Tasca Racing's Strong Show Of Form Culminates In Semi-Final Appearance
Updated: 17 minutes ago
Austin Prock and Tasca Racing made a large step in the Windy City, driving the Motorcraft Quick Lane Ford Mustang Nitro Funny Car at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals, held at Route 66 Raceway. With a Top 3 spot in qualifying and a Semi-Finals appearance, The teams continues to showcase their upturn, although it wasn't without struggles.
The Qualifying Prowess Continues into Illinois
The first run of the weekend on Friday was not what the team was looking for. Lined up against Cruz Pedregon for Q1, Austin would clock a .72 reaction time, once more showcasing the capabilities of the car, but would haze the tires and would click it off with an ET of 4.273 at 258.12 miles per hour.
Q2 was much more up to speed for the team, with Austin setting his fast run of the season with a 3.951 ET at 329.50 miles per hour with a .095 reaction time. This run would vault him
up to 3rd in qualifying from 15th place, a great effort from the team to end off Friday.
Same Story, Different Day
Saturday Qualifying would start off relatively similar to Friday, with Austin hazing the tires and dropping cylinders just past half track. He would click it off, with a 4.220 ET at 235.56 and a 0.91 Reaction Time, Dropping Austin to 6th by the time 4th and final round of qualifying would come through. In the 4th round, he would best the run he put up in Q2, setting a new fastest pass of the season for the team with a 3.920 ET at 331.94 miles per hour with a 0.74 reaction time. This run would place him right back into the third spot behind Ron Capps, and set him up well going into eliminations on Sunday.
One Step Closer To The Finish Line
Sunday Eliminations would kick off with a First Round matchup against Jeff Arend, the 14th place qualifier. Austin would cruise to the teams first win light of the season with a clean 0.87 Reaction time and ET of 3.934 at 330 miles per hour, which bode well for the future.
Round 2 of Eliminations would yield a tough competitor in JR Todd, The 6th place qualifier. Austin would launch off with .87 reaction time to JR Todd's .81, but JR Todd would smoke the tires. Austin would get halfway down track before hazing the tires and dropping cylinders, taking the win and moving onto the Semi-Finals against Chad Green.
The Semi-Finals would fall just short of expectations for the team. A solid, clean run with an ET of 4.015 at 323.43 miles per hour, but unfortunately would not be moving to their first Final Round of the year. A major improvement over the previous 5 races, Tasca Racing and Austin Prock found a breakthrough, a bright look for the future of the team.
"I think the Prock Rocket is back. It's not perfect yet, but its starting to go up and down the racetrack and put up competitive ET's"
The weekend in Chicago is proof of the work that Tasca Racing has put in through the offseason and first five races, and a glimpse of what could be in store. A Semi-Final Appearance, Two back to back fastest passes of the season and a 3rd place qualifying effort showcases the team's overall progression.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series resumes in Maryland for the NHRA Potomac Nationals Presented By Jegs, May 29-31st. The focus for Tasca Racing continues to be to build upon the momentum that was shown today, and go one more round.
