Force Takes Qualifying; Tasca Comes Back From Disqualification to Win 2Fast2Tasty Challenge

Bob Tasca III with Mission ambassador, Angelle Sampey, in Victory Lane after winning the 2Fast2Tasty Challenge at zMAX Dragway (Photo: NHRA Media)

CONCORD, N.C. — The Funny car division of the NHRA went to zMAX Dragway to take part in the 4-Wide Nationals. For the second time during the 2024 season, the series raced on a four lane drag strip. Following the standard setup of any motorsports event, the weekend started off with qualifying.

Qualifying Session 1

John Force, Ron Capps, Alexis DeJoria and Chad Green were some of the first drivers to go down the track for Funny car qualifying. Capps had the best round out of the four, having the better elapsed time and final speed. This round placed Force in the second qualifying position, Capps in first, DeJoria in fifth and Green in sixth.

Qualifying Session 2

For the first match-up of the second round of qualifying, there were only three cars who went down zMAX Dragway.  Bob Tasca III, Jim Campbell and Buddy Hull went head-to-head and all made it to the end of the race without any issues. Tasca had the best round though, picking up both the elapsed time and final speed wins, as well as getting that number one qualifying spot, even if only for a little while. Campbell and Hull were placed 12th and ninth, respectively.

Matt Hagan, DeJoria, Capps and Force went to race down the 1,000 foot strip next. This round was a career best for Force. Force’s elapsed time was also a new track record, putting Force in the number one qualifying spot over Tasca III. Hagan got placed in sixth, DeJoria third and Capps fourth.

After session two was over, it was found out that Tasca III’s intake manifold was illegal. Because of that, his session two qualifying run was eliminated. 

The intake manifolds these cars run are magnesium and because of that some teams like to sandblast them down to make them easier for installation as well as for better performance. They also sometimes dip the manifolds in media, making them a different color from what they originally were. This is deemed illegal according to NHRA rules. 

“The manufacturer of the intake manifold, Alan Johnson, met with me this morning and said there was no advantage,” said Tasca about his disqualification. “A color is not an advantage. But any modification, according to NHRA, is illegal. In Gainesville, we gave our manifolds to them [NHRA] and they were all different colors. We had no issues. Currently, I don’t have any parts to run.”

NHRA released an official statement about Tasca’s disqualification that said that further penalization might take place upon further evaluation.

https://twitter.com/NHRA/status/1784256104462971328

When fellow Funny Car competitor Hagan was asked about the incident, he said that the rules are the rules.

Qualifying Session 3

Once again, three cars took to the strip instead of four to kick off the third round of qualifying. Blake Alexander, Hull and Daniel Wilkerson all raced each other. Wilkerson came out on top with the better elapsed time and final speed. Hull didn’t fare too well and wouldn’t get his scores tracked and this put him in tenth. Meanwhile, Wilkerson landed in fifth and Alexander in ninth.

A common theme the three car match-ups seemed and this slate of drivers was no different as Dave Richards faced Cruz Pedregon and Force. Pedregon took the cake with this round by having the best elapsed time and final speed. Force remained in the number one qualifying position while Pedregon got put in eighth and Richards in 12th.

John Force competing in the 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway (Photo: NHRA Media)

Final Qualifying Session

To kick off the final qualifying session, Richards did a solo run. This placed him in 14th with an elapsed time of 4.035 and a final speed of 285.65.

Wilkerson, Green, Pedregon and Alexander went to race for 1,000 feet after that. During this race, Pedregon got extremely close to crossing the yellow line but somehow kept his car under control and didn’t cross it. Green had the best round out of them all for both elapsed time and final speed. This placed him in fifth, while Wilkerson got ninth, Pedregon eighth and Alexander 11th.

The last round consisted of Capps, Force, Hagan and DeJoria. Force took the round, keeping his number one qualifying position. Capps slid into third, Hagan one spot behind him and DeJoria got second, resulting in the top four drivers having just competed against each other.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Force on getting the best qualifying spot. “We’re on a mission. Thank you to all of the sponsors on my car.”

2FAST2TASTY CHALLENGE SEMIFINALS

The first semifinal round was between Austin Prock, DeJoria, Green and Tasca III. Even though Green had the better reaction time, Prock had the better elapsed time and final speed, resulting in him winning the round. Second best was Tasca III though, meaning that he went to the final round as well. DeJoria lost traction on this round, not allowing her to perform as well as she could’ve.

For the second of two rounds, Hagan, Capps, J.R. Todd and Paul Lee faced each other. Hagan had the best reaction time of the bunch, but just wouldn’t cut it as Lee had the better elapsed time and final speed, giving him the win. Todd was second best, though, and advanced along with Lee to the final round.

2FAST2TASTY CHALLENGE FINAL

It all came down to Prock, Tasca III, Todd and Lee for the final round of the 2Fast2Tasty Challenge. In an insane turn of events, Tasca III completely dominated the match and took home the win, although he tied with Prock for the reaction time. 

 “[This is] vindication for my team,” said Tasca on winning the challenge. “We came in this morning to some BS with the manifold. Thanks to Steve Torrence and his family for giving us some parts because we don’t run a manifold from a box.”