Tough Break for Tasca Racing at NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas

The Tasca Racing team headed into the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with momentum and optimism. But what started as a promising weekend quickly turned into a test of resilience for Bob Tasca III and the Motorcraft Quick Lane Nitro Mustang Dark Horse Funny Car.

Friday: A Solid Start in the Heat

In Friday’s Q1 qualifying session, Tasca laid down a clean 4.023-second run at 315.05 MPH, even after dropping a cylinder late in the run. "Alright, that’s a better way to start off the weekend," Tasca said. "Really hot track, difficult conditions here in Vegas… We just wanted to get a baseline."

Q2 brought another respectable run: 4.064 seconds at 306.05 MPH, keeping the team inside the top ten. Despite the scorching desert heat, the Mustang showed potential, closing out Friday in the No. 8 qualifying position.

Saturday: Struggling for Traction

Saturday’s sessions, however, presented traction challenges. In Q3, Tasca’s run ended in a 4.836 at 147.75 MPH after the car lost grip deep into the run. Q4 brought similar trouble, with a 4.798 at 147.26 MPH. Tasca was blunt: “We won’t get past the first round tomorrow smoking the tires like we did all day today.”

The team slid to ninth overall in qualifying heading into Sunday eliminations.

Sunday: A Mechanical Setback Ends the Day Early

Race day preparations went smoothly—until disaster struck. After completing the burnout in Round 1, Tasca attempted to back up, but the car locked up. The culprit? A catastrophic failure in the planetary gear system.

Crew Chief Aaron Brooks broke it down:“We had an issue on one of our qualifying runs Friday where the car didn’t want to back up after the burnout. We checked everything, it looked fine. But on Sunday, when Bob shifted into reverse, it sheared the teeth off the planetary gears. That locked everything up—no forward or reverse.”

With no way to stage the car, Tasca was eliminated without making a run.

Looking Ahead to Charlotte

Despite the early exit, the team remains focused and motivated. The strong early qualifying numbers show the potential is there. With a full teardown and rebuild underway, the Tasca Racing crew is setting their sights on redemption at the upcoming NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte.