BOB TASCA III MAKES DRAG RACING HISTORY WITH 341.68 MPH PASS
BY NATE VAN WAGNEN
PHOTOGRAPHS BY LUKE NIEUWHOF , ANDREW MENESES AND JORDAN GOODMAN / PUSH 22 MARKETING
As pre-race testing progressed in the days leading up to Thursday night ’ s first qualifying session , anyone with a finger on the pulse of nitro racing realized there was an opportunity to see a historic number pop up on the scoreboards : 340 MPH . Never before in drag racing history had anyone driving a wheel-driven machine broken into the 340-MPH zone , no matter the distance .
When Antron Brown posted 339.62 MPH on the board on a 3.722-second run in Wednesday testing , the possibility of a 340-MPH never seemed so real . But Compulink founder Bob Brockmeyer , who was on-site earlier in the week to calibrate the timing system , discredited the numbers , telling CompetitionPlus . com ’ s Bobby Bennett , “ The splits on top were not legit .”
That tempered expectations a bit , but not for long . Bob Tasca III in his Todd Okuhara and Aaron Brooks-tuned PPG Ford Mustang Dark Horse Funny Car came out in the first qualifying session on Thursday night and fired off a 3.84 at 339.87 , which matched Robert Hight ’ s NHRA Funny Car national speed record set in
2017 . Around 24 hours later in the final qualifying session , Tasca repeated his 3.84 but at 341.68 MPH . While it ’ s not an official NHRA record , it was the sport ’ s first 340-MPH pass by a wheel-driven vehicle . Period .
“ It ’ s so special to do it right here , at an event put on by racers , supported by all the sponsors out here that support us , with Drag IllustrateD and all the other people that worked together on this race ,” Tasca said . “ To be at the all-star event with the best of the best in the world , to be able to pull off a feat like that , it ’ s one of the greatest racing accomplishments of my career . Hat ’ s off to my team and Ford and PPG and all the sponsors that have supported me . It ’ s just an exciting and special night .”
All measures possible were taken by event officials to confirm Tasca ’ s numbers were legitimate . Track owner Victor Alvarez weighed in on the legitimacy of the run in an interview
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