Bob Tasca III competing at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
NORWALK, Ohio — This weekend, the NHRA Mission Foods drag racing series traveled north to Summit Motorsports Park to compete in the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals.
Qualifying and the 2Fast2Tasty Challenge both saw the same winner in Austin Prock, but this week’s wins were different from others due to Prock’s boss, John Force, being in the hospital after his crash last week at Virginia Motorsports Park. Prock, wanting to get a win for Mr. Force, was very happy with the victories.
Finals Round 1
Bob Tasca III and Dave Richards were the first pair to take to the strip. Tasca won the round by a landslide with superior reaction and elapsed times and final speed, giving him the advancement needed to head to the next round.
Next up were Buddy Hull and Blake Alexander. Alexander followed in the footsteps of Tasca, going green before Hull in the three categories that matter most.
| RT | 60 FT | 330 FT | 660 FT | MPH AT 660 | ET | MPH | |
| Buddy Hull | .114 | .902 | 2.324 | 3.300 | 266.48 | 4.075 | 314.90 |
| Blake Alexander | .088 | .885 | 2.276 | 3.193 | 280.02 | 3.950 | 320.13 |
Joe Morrison, who was making his first career Funny Car start, and Prock faced off next. Unfortunately, Morrison red-lighted off the line, getting a foul, and automatically handing the win to Prock.
Chris King and J.R. Todd then took to the strip. Todd, who recently had his rookie season fire suit and helmet placed in the Smithsonian Institute of Air and Space, dominated the run and hit all the checkpoints to advance to the next round.
| RT | 60 FT | 330 FT | 660 FT | MPH AT 660 | ET | MPH | |
| Chris King | .076 | .914 | 2.341 | 3.330 | 258.12 | 4.269 | 233.48 |
| J.R. Todd | .068 | .885 | 2.277 | 3.191 | 284.93 | 3.933 | 325.37 |
After that, Bobby Bode and Paul Lee faced off, putting on a very similar show. Bode smoked the tires and Lee got sideways, but Lee managed to hit all the milestones for the run to go on to the next round.
Matt Hagan and Cruz Pedregon danced with each other next. In an extremely close race, Hagan won as the first car across the finish line.
| RT | 60 FT | 330 FT | 660 FT | MPH AT 660 | ET | MPH | |
| Matt Hagan | .071 | .874 | 2.246 | 3.167 | 279.61 | 3.914 | 325.06 |
| Cruz Pedregon | .042 | .922 | 2.315 | 3.252 | 277.94 | 3.999 | 327.03 |
Ron Capps and Daniel Wilkerson then burned out at the start line. Wilkerson did well against Capps but could not find enough momentum to get past the former champion to win. Capps took the round to move on to Round 2.
Finally, the last pair in Round 1 for the Funny Cars saw Alexis DeJoria and Chad Green go head-to-head. DeJoria smoked her tires, practically handing the win to Green and ending her chances of a win.
Austin Prock competing at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
Finals Round 2
Tasca and Lee were the first two up to kick off the second round of final eliminations. Lee started quicker for the initial start, but Tasca made it to the end first and was faster overall, meaning that he got to go to the semifinals.
| RT | 60 FT | 330 FT | 660 FT | MPH AT 660 | ET | MPH | |
| Paul Lee | .032 | .920 | 2.341 | 3.277 | 278.46 | 4.024 | 326.40 |
| Bob Tasca III | .078 | .896 | 2.265 | 3.186 | 283.55 | 3.922 | 332.92 |
Next up were Alexander and Hagan. Hagan smoked the match and got a massive advantage over Alexander when he started much sooner than his opponent. Hagan was headed to the semifinals.
After that, Capps and Todd lined up side-by-side. Todd started off better than Capps, but Capps soon proved to Todd that he was not there to play and won, ending with the better elapsed time and final speed and earning himself a ticket to the semifinals when Todd lost traction.
To finish off Round 2, Prock and Green took to the strip. Green smoked his tires halfway through the race, handing the win to Prock who had started better off the line. Prock kept up the momentum in hopes to get a win for Mr. Force.
Semifinals
Prock and Tasca started off the semifinals for the Funny Cars. Tasca won on a hole-shot by having the better reaction time and final speed, even though Prock got to the finish line first. Tasca was headed to the final round after a really close run.
Next, Capps and Hagan faced off. Hagan immediately smoked the tires, giving the win to Capps. Hagan started off better than Capps but could not help the fact that his tires spun out from under him.
FINAL ROUND
Capps and Tasca found themselves beside each other for the final round of eliminations for the Funny Cars. Upon takeoff, Tasca had the better car and went on to win the match, and the race, after Capps smoked his tires.
“My son turned 18 this morning and said, ‘Get me a Wally’,’’ said Tasca about his win. He then went on to say with tears in his eyes, “[I’m] dedicating this win to John Force.”
