Pomona II: Bob Tasca III final report

TASCA ENDS ROOKIE SEASON IN POMONA

POMONA, Calif. (Nov. 16, 2008) -- Bob Tasca III made his last trip down an NHRA drag strip as a rookie driver.

After qualifying for 22 of 24 races this season, and spending the season crafting and molding his race team, the 2008 season has come to an end and after falling in the first round in Pomona to Ron Capps, the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang team will end its first season together, 12th in the point standings.

"What a season it's been," said Tasca. "I'm just so thrilled for my whole team and Motorcraft and Quick Lane to really bring an idea that we had last year, come together this season. At the end of the day, the greatest thing you can give to someone is to believe in them, and Ford Motor Company believed in us to be able to start from scratch and build a team and a world-class business model out of the gate, and we did that."

The story for Tasca all season was the fact that the former alcohol Funny Car driver literally put together his entire sponsorship and race team in just about two months at the end of last year.

"As a driver and team owner, I had a lot of sleepless nights just trying to figure out how we were going to get to Pomona for the first race of this season," continued Tasca. "With a crew chief like Chris Cunningham and the guys that he put together for this team to get us out of the gate, compete all year, qualify for 22 of 24 races, win rounds, get to a semi-final; we didn't get our first win, but that will come. And believe me, there's more than one of them in our future."

The past couple of months have been full of announcements for Tasca Racing for the 2009 season. He began construction for his race shop in Concord, N.C., hired Marc Denner as an assistant crew chief for next season, and probably the biggest announcement of all was the Vegas announcement of his alliance with Tim Wilkerson for next season.

"From our alliance with Tim and building our shop, you can just see the direction that we're heading in for next season," said Tasca. "And to be part of something this special, both on the business side and the racing side, is just really exciting. I've said it all year that in this sport, you've got to look forward and not backwards and Tasca and Wilkerson Racing, along with Cunningham and Marc Denner for next year, we're planning on having a leg up on the competition next season.

"This time last year, I only had one employee, so our entire team is really pumped up about how this year came together and we're really excited about 2009," said Tasca. "For us, we've got about three days off and then we're going to work in Las Vegas for three days to test. Look out, and we'll see what next year brings."

For Bob Tasca III, to have started the hiring process of crew members in November of last year, receiving his first car in December, and earning his nitro Funny Car license in the last testing session in January before Pomona; he has had a year full of learning experiences both as a driver and team owner, with the best still yet to come.

-credit: tasca/motorcraft