Commerce: Bob Tasca III Friday notes

TASCA SITS 10TH HEADING INTO SECOND DAY OF NHRA QUALIFYING

COMMERCE, Ga. (April 25, 2008) -- The goal for Bob Tasca III and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Shelby Mustang team for Friday qualifying at Atlanta Dragway, was to gather data and put together two solid runs. After an early afternoon run in the heat, and an evening run under cool conditions, Tasca did just that and earned the No. 10 position heading into the second day of qualifying for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals.

"That was great!" said Tasca after his second run of the day. "We're getting this hot rod down the track, and I couldn't be more happy with all of the guys that we've got on the team"

Tasca's first qualifying run came under the heat, while the second and quickest run under cool conditions, resulted in a 4.98/316.30 mph run.

"The two runs that we made today were just really exciting for me, because the car is going from A to B," said Tasca. "As a driver, there's nothing that builds your confidence more in a race car, then when you step on that throttle and know that it's going to go solidly down the race track.

"I'm so proud of my crew chief, Chris Cunningham, and all of these guys that work so hard on this team. We've got to have one of the most consistent racecars out on the track, and we're really having a good time out here."

With scattered thunderstorms on the radar for Saturday, earning a solid qualifying spot in the field was really critical for the rookie team.

"When we get back here tomorrow, even if there wasn't any threat of rain, we're scheduled to be running in the heat of the day, so the times put down tonight on a cool track were really important. It's just really good to be able to put this Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang in the top 10 going into tomorrow. We got some great data that we can really kind of play with tomorrow and really dial this thing in for Sunday."

-credit: tasca/motorcraft