Bob Tasca III couldn’t be more ready to start his sixth season on the NHRA Mello Yello Funny Car tour. After 48 solid hours of plowing snow out of his family’s Ford dealership in Cranston, R.I. – where 27 inches of snow completely buried the rows of Fords, making them look more like ski moguls – Tasca is ecstatic to trade his snow boots and tractor for the palm trees of Southern California and his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Shelby Mustang Funny Car.
· Bob Tasca’s hometown of Cranston, R.I. was hit with 27 inches of snow in New England’s blizzard last week. It took three people – including Tasca – 48 hours to dig his family’s Ford dealership out of the drifts after the epic winter blast.
· This year, for the first time in 20 years, Ford Customer Service Division and its Motorcraft brand have united its NHRA and NASCAR programs with one uniform paint scheme. With the exception of a few specialty paint schemes scheduled for both Tasca’s Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Shelby Mustang and Wood Brothers Racing’s No. 21 Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the two teams will field matching liveries in the signature red and white of Motorcraft and blue of Quick Lane.
· The 2013 season marks Tasca’s sixth in the NHRA Mello Yello Funny Car category.
Tasca and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team come to the 53rd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals armed with data from testing in both December and January in Palm Beach, Fla. They’ll start this season ahead of the game, exactly where they hoped to be.
“I’m happy to see something other than snow,” said Tasca, who cleared the snow with two others. “Let me tell you, I’ve been thinking about the first qualifying session at the Winternationals since the Finals in November. At the end of the day, when you’re a driver, the only thing you really want to do is get back in your race car. I was happy to get some seat time over the winter and am glad to be back in Pomona. I have a lot of confidence in this Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Shelby Mustang and my guys. We’re ready to go.”
Despite the time spent on the track this winter, Tasca fit in plenty of family time during the break, including a trip to Orlando, Fla. with his wife and four sons.
Two hours of qualifying air on ESPN2 at 10 p.m. ET on Saturday, with eliminations from 8-11 p.m. ET on Sunday.
For live updates, follow the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Shelby Mustang team on Twitter (MQL_Racing) and Facebook (click on the “Twitter” icon). Follow driver Bob Tasca III on Twitter at @Tasca3 and Facebook.
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