Indy ORP: Bob Tasca III Friday notes

FORD'S JDRF CAR MAKES DEBUT IN INDY; TASCA 15TH OF THE DAY

INDIANAPOLIS (Aug. 29, 2008) -- The JDRF-themed Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang, designed by six-year-old Sam Millard, made it's first run down the track on Friday at Raceway Park in Indianapolis, with Bob Tasca III posting the 15th-quickest time of the field.

"This was a fun day to have Sam Millard, who was our winning designer, and his family out here to see their JDRF car out on the track," said Tasca. "We were on an incredible run right up until the point where we smoked the tires, but we just had a little bit too much in it at the transition from concrete to asphalt right around 500 feet. But we're real happy with our data."

For this weekend's U.S. Nationals, teams have an extra qualifying run during the weekend, with five instead of the normal four runs to 1,000 feet, to earn a spot in the top 16 for the race.

"Your first run down the race track, is kind of a guess to a certain degree of what you need to do to go from A to B," said Tasca. "The good news is that this is Indy, and you've got five qualifying runs, so with that data, we'll be in good shape tomorrow. The first run will be warm, but tomorrow's night run will be cooler and the track will be a lot better.

"But we're in good shape, this is a big race for everyone; the U.S. Nationals is the race that you want to win, and to have this whole JDRF initiative behind us in this race makes it that much more special."

-credit: tasca/motorcraft