Tasca Racing Race Weekend Recap, NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals
By: Tasca Racing
The Thunder Valley Nationals at historic Bristol Dragway was a rollercoaster weekend for Tasca Racing as the team battled traction issues, shifting track conditions, and ultimately made the decision to retire their current Funny Car chassis.
Friday, Finding a Baseline
The weekend got off to a rocky start in Q1 as Bob Tasca III struggled with an overly aggressive launch in the Ford Performance Nitro Mustang Dark Horse Funny Car, resulting in a 6.785-second pass at just 95.05 mph. “We have to figure out how to slow this Mustang funny car down,” Tasca said.
In Q2, the team made major progress, laying down a clean 4.042-second run at 312.50 mph. “We finally ran 4.04 with a wide-open throttle and did not smoke the tires. We have not been able to make this car go that slow in three years,” said Tasca, who jumped to 8th in the order heading into Saturday.
Saturday, Pushing Through Conditions
Q3 brought more tire shake issues, resulting in a 5.587 at 122.33 mph. “A little too much on that run. It felt good going by the tree, but it rattled the tires around 200 feet,” Tasca explained.
The team rebounded in Q4 with a strong 4.022-second pass at 320.20 mph in hot track conditions. Despite putting a cylinder out and having to correct the car mid-run, Tasca secured the No. 12 qualifying position and a first-round matchup with Dan Wilkerson. “We definitely got a car that can race on Sunday,” he said confidently.
Sunday, A Turning Point
Tasca left strong on the tree with a 0.055 light, but the car lost traction again just past 200 feet, and again in the right lane, coasting to a 5.566-second run at 250.97 mph and a first-round exit.
In a candid post-race statement, Tasca revealed a major decision: “That was the last time that chassis will ever go down a racetrack. We’re going to junk it. We got a brand new car ready to go. We’ll have it in Richmond.”
Despite the early exit, the team surprisingly remains optimistic. With a fresh chassis and new components on deck, Tasca Racing looks to reset and rebound at the Virginia NHRA Nationals in Richmond, June 21–23.
