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Backseat Driver: Bob Tasca III ranked No.5 in Top Alcohol Funny Cars

Rhode Island's Bob Tasca III now ranks No.5 nationally in the Top Alcohol Funny Car points standings following a spectacular series of runs in his Ford Mustang at last weekend's National Hot Rod Association SuperNationals at Englishtown, N.J.
"It was a storybook weekend," Tasca said on Monday. "We were told that what we did was the greatest turnaround in the history of the NHRA."

After struggling at the two previous meets in Chicago and Atco, N.J., Tasca's team has a further setback during qualifiying heats on Friday when the car crashed into a bank of sand and gravel after its parachutes failed. "One of the chutes failed to blossom," he said.

He said the car was not too badly damaged, although it picked up about 25 pounds of gravel which had to be cleaned out.

So when the team started competing on Saturday, Tasca said that "Maybe 5 people out of the crowd of 100,000 thought we could win."

Instead, he went on to win all this heats, even beating his nemesis and the current No.2 in the rankings, Frank Manzo of New Jersey. Times for the run were close, with Manzo clocking 5.573 seconds at 248.29 mph against Tasca's 5.585 seconds at 263.92 mph. However, Tasca was quick off the start, with 0.030 seconds compared with Manzo's 0.055 seconds.

That was Round 2. Tasca went on to beat Mickey Ferro (currently No.6) in Round 3 and Bob Newberry (No.4) in Round 4. In Round 1, he beat Fred Tigges (No. 44).

Tasca said short of his wife and three children, the weekend was "the greatest accomplishment of my life." He said the win was also special because so many of his family and sponsors were on hand to see it, including his grandfather, 82-year old Bob Tasca Sr., the patriarch of the Tasca family.

And with six races left, Tasca and his team have plenty of time to make further progress up the standings.

"We're withing striking distance of the championship," he said, but added, "I am very humble, a very, very green driver."

At the same time, he said he was delighted by the way his engine performed. "We didn't hurt a sparkplug," he said. "The motor is happy and if it can run that fast and be happy, look out baby, we can start pulling the string in."

Posted by   at 1:53 PM to Racing | Permalink | Comments 0

24 Hours of Dusting Wheels and Rolling Tires

Someone told me that there is no sleep better than the sleep after the 24 Hours of Le Mans. But 23 hours into the race, which took place last weekend on 8.4 miles of public roads about an hour and a half southwest of Paris, no one on the Corvette Racing team was close to dozing, according to Nick Kurczewski of the New York Times.

Months before, I had politely turned down an offer from Chevrolet’s Corvette Racing team to watch the 75th running of the race from the comfort of the V.I.P. lounges. I really wanted to experience the race as a member of the pit crew, no frills attached.

The team said yes, and it was agreed that from 3 p.m. (9 a.m. E.S.T.) June 16 to 3 p.m. June 17, I would trade my pen and notepad for a fireproof suit and a pair of work gloves.

Posted by   at 12:14 PM to Racing | Permalink | Comments 0

Vatican issues driving guidelines

The Vatican has issued a document - "Guidelines for the Patoral Care of the Road" - which addresses a number of issues, such as problems of the international transportation of women and children for prostitution as well as the homeless on the world's roads.

It also addresses driving itself, particularly the issue of manners or consideration for others, going as far as drawing up a ten commandments of the road:

I. You shall not kill.

II. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.

III. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.

IV. Be charitable and help your neighbour in need, especially victims of accidents.

V. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.

VI. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.

VII. Support the families of accident victims.

VIII. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.

IX. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.

X. Feel responsible towards others.

Posted by   at 11:55 AM to On the road | Permalink | Comments 0

Automakers latch onto fuel-saving tech

A promising, if so far underwhelming, fuel-economy technology is gaining momentum as automakers, squeezed by social and political pressure, look under every rock to gain even a few tenths of a mile per gallon, according to USA Today.

The technology goes by various names but by any name does the same thing: shuts off fuel to some of an engine's cylinders when the vehicle needs only partial power.

Chrysler just said that a new line of V-6 engines will have cylinder deactivation, starting in 2010. Honda says it will have an enhanced version of what it calls Variable Cylinder Management on V-6 engines in the redesigned 2008 Accord coming this fall. And General Motors says it will use the feature on a 2008 Buick LaCrosse V-8 and '08 hybrid versions of full-size Chevrolet and GMC SUVs.

Posted by   at 11:37 AM to Chrysler , Fuel economy , GM , Honda , Technology | Permalink | Comments 0

House plans to follow Senate on renewable energy bill

Democrats celebrated a step toward reducing U.S. dependence on oil as the Senate approved a bill calling for more ethanol and the first boost in gas mileage in decades.
Now the House plans to follow suit, perhaps as early as next week, USA Today reports.

The Senate late Thursday voted 65-27 to pass the first energy bill since Democrats took control of Congress in January. But it was far from a complete victory.

Posted by   at 11:09 AM to Fuel economy | Permalink | Comments 0

Gettelfinger Lauds GM for Tentative Deal

United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger credited General Motors for a tentative wage-concession deal with Delphi Corp. meant to help the struggling auto supplier emerge from bankruptcy and avoid a strike, according to the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, Gettelfinger continued to criticize Delphi's leaders, whom he said wanted to drag out the bankruptcy and put the Troy-based Delphi in foreign hands.

Posted by   at 11:04 AM to GM | Permalink | Comments 0