The world of drag racing has dominated major announcements at the 2017 SEMA show so far. First the news of NHRA’s management changes and now the news that Ford will be returning to professional drag racing by sponsoring Bob Tasca III for the 2018 NHRA season. Tasca III will be running a Ford Performance nitro funny car as part of the Don Schumacher racing camp. We understand that an existing co-crew chief of a prominent and successful DSR team will assume the lead role on the Tasca car, which is awesome.
The Tasca family is deeply ensconced in Ford’s rich performance history and they continue to be successful and influential car dealers today with multiple stores in the state of Rhode Island. It was the Tasca family that developed the Ford Thunderbolt and later the Cobra Jet Mustang. Ideas that went up the chain at Ford and that developed into iconic performance machines for the brand. This is pretty amazing news!
Here’s the full release from Ford Performance!
LAS VEGAS, NV, October 31, 2017 – Ford will bring its legendary performance legacy to help fuel Bob Tasca III’s Mustang Funny Car for the 2018 NHRA drag racing season.
Ford Performance will help the team make the car as “slippery” as possible through the company’s investments in aerodynamics engineering, including racing and production vehicle wind tunnels.
Ford and its selected brands will sponsor Bob Tasca III and Tasca Racing for the entire season as the primary sponsor for 16 races, and as a co-sponsor the rest of the season, building on the company’s legacy of drag racing that dates back to the start of the sport.
“We’re excited about partnering with Tasca Racing and helping them return to NHRA for a championship run,” said Dave Pericak, global director, Ford Performance. “We believe we have the technology tools to help the team be competitive on the track long-term, and are looking forward to the effort starting in 2018.
“The Tasca family has always been a pioneer in racing, and a leader in Ford vehicle and parts sales for many decades,” said Pericak. “This partnership will only serve to strengthen that legacy.”
During his decade as an NHRA Funny Car competitor, Tasca has four race wins, 11 finals appearances and qualified for the Countdown to the Championship three times. His career best ET is 3.892 and his career best speed is 326.56 mph.
With Tasca Racing’s new technical alliance with Don Schumacher Motorsports, and the engineering support of Ford Performance, the team is focused on making a run for the NHRA Funny Car title.
“This is a very exciting day for me personally, and for everyone involved at Tasca Racing,” said Bob Tasca III. “We have always been a Ford family and have a long history with drag racing, so to be able to return to NHRA Funny Car full-time in 2018 with the support of our long-time friends at Ford is the perfect scenario for us.
“This is something we have been working on for months now, so it’s great to be able to finally talk about it. We are ramping up for a full-season effort on the track, but also are ready to start working with our Ford partners to help reach their business goals and to help recruit technicians and mechanics for Ford dealerships by leveraging the NHRA platform. My team is focused on winning a Championship for all the Ford fans that have supported Tasca and Ford since the 1960’s! My grandfather coined the phrase ‘Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday.’ That statement is alive and well within the NHRA. We can’t wait to get started.”
Man, that is cool! Congratulations to all! This should be great!
I wonder what Force thinks about that?
Come on Ford sponsor a prostock car….you have sold ten trillion mustangs and can\’t afford a mustang prostock…..come on already….
Whoopi do did they say they are using a Hemi engine lmao.
Hopefully, Ford Performance will throw a little love Tim Wilkerson’s direction…
Ford PRO STOCK..WE drive these not Funny cars ..think think
Ford has the ability to run pro stock in a Chevy and Dodge feild !!! But don’t what we have to do is let Ford know this is what we Want!!!!!
As a lifelong Ford fan I must say that Ford sponsorship of a funny car means absolutely nothing to me. There is nothing “Ford” (or GM, or Toyota for that matter) about those things. They all run engines that have roots as old Chrysler designs and jellybean bodies that can only be distinguished by some distorted headlight and grill decals. Unfortunately, even Pro Stock bodies have degraded in much the same way. I understand the aerodynamic advantage they are seeking, but I would think NHRA would have the authority to limit body modifications from OEM designs to help make those cars more relatable to the fans.
I would have rather seen that money go to the Cobra Jet program but alas, the nitro cars get the eyeballs. More bang for their buck, pardon the pun.
Will they let ford run the ford engine nhra banned and then gave the bore spacing and everything else to the hemi line? Yeah, thought not. Who cares about these jelly beans, Stock and SuperStock is where they need to dump more money! And not just in the CJ program, spread it around Ford! And while we’re dreaming, add more cars to the class guide ford!!!!
WOW, going with a schumaker backed car and he runs toyota. Why not a force after all he was the man for Ford for decades.
Schumacher runs the Dodge Charger bodies not Toyota.
I vote for Tim Wilkerson, He has stuck it with running a Ford when they and Tasca would not play.