Tasca III zooms to qualifying lead
Funny Car
Friday's qualifying runs were a learning experience for Bob Tasca III.
At the end of the day, Tasca found himself in first place after the first day of qualifying. He was followed by Cruz Pedregon, who took second with a qualifying time of 4.238.
NHRA Funny Car driver Bob Tasca III (top) raced in the Quicklane Ford Mustang alongside Del Worsham in the Alanabi Racing Toyota Friday. Tasca III captured the No. 1 qualifying spot in the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls » Purchase reprints of this photo.
With the track heating up in the middle of a 90-degree day, Funny Car drivers had some slick track conditions to deal with in the first round of qualifying. With the second round run during cooler evening hours, drivers wanted to put themselves in a position to run late in the second qualifying round.
Tony Pedregon stood in first place in the Countdown to the Championship coming into the weekend. He was also looking to win for the second year in a row at BIR. He has two finals appearances in the last two events, with losses to Tim Wilkerson in the finals at Sonoma and a week earlier in Seattle.
Pedregon has two victories this season with both over Ashley Force Hood, who was in third place in the points standings with Ron Capps squeezed in between her and Pedregon. Capps is having a solid year in his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger with five victories this season.
In the first round of qualifying, Pedregon found himself in the ninth spot with a time of 5.006 seconds. But it was Tasca III who secured the No. 1 spot after the first round of qualifying with an impressive time of 4.364 seconds.
Tasca was happy with the time but knew it wouldn't hold. He also explained that as important as the first-place finish was, it is also the education from that finish that he can take with him.
"Even more then the first-place position is the data," he said. "We collect data four seconds at a time and when you smoke the tires you learn nothing. So to have data on a 120-degree race track and to have data tonight on a cooler race track, that's information that we take with us. Clearly, you know, that number won't hold and it might not be top 10. It's an attitude and a mindset, and we are gunning for a championship."
Cruz Pedregon had a solid run with an elapsed time of 4.41 to put him in second place, and he kept that spot with his second qualifying run of 4.238.
The Castrol GTX team had some rough going in the first round with John Force finishing 10th with a time of 5.118 and Force Hood finishing 12th with a time of 5.492 seconds.
In the second round of qualifying, Force held the lead for a while as he posted a time of 4.245 that stood for a while before it was bested by Cruz Pedregon and Tasca III.
For Tasca III, waiting for all cars to run the second run was exactly where he wanted to be.
"As a driver you want to be able to sit in your car knowing that you have a tune-up that can put you with the low elapsed time," he said. "We had made our decision after Cruz ran that number. When you look back two weeks ago to Sonoma you can see how consistent we were. We have a race car that is doing what we want it to do and that is how you win championships. I am really proud of the guys and the hard work is paying off."
Capps landed the sixth spot with a time of 4.710 after the first run, and stayed there in the second round with a 4.285.
Tony Pedregon ran a solid time of 4.284 in the second round but ran into trouble at the end of the run as his car caught on fire. He walked away unhurt and assured the crowed that he would be ready for Saturday's race.
Heading into Saturday's second round of qualifying, Tasca III knows that Friday's qualifying number probably won't hold but he does have a good luck charm on his side.
"I don't believe that number will hold (Saturday) with the cooler temperature and the cloud cover," he said. "You have to put yourself in a position to compete. I also got my good luck charm as it's my mom's birthday."