Tasca races to first Funny Car victory in nearly 7 years

Published Jun. 16, 2019 6:57 p.m. ET

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) — Bob Tasca III raced to his first Funny Car victory in nearly seven years, beating 70-year-old John Force on Sunday in the final round of the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway.

Tasca won for the fifth time and first in 100 races, denying Force his 150th career victory with a 4.008-second pass at 316.23 mph in a Ford Mustang.

"It was just a hard-fought effort," Tasca said. "I knew it would be a slugfest against Force, but I love racing John. It was probably one of the biggest wins in my career. We had to build this car from scratch, but the chemistry on this team is good and I've never had a race car like this. It's fast and the guys just put me in a position to win."

Mike Salinas won in Top Fuel for his second victory of the year. He beat Steve Torrence with a 3.836 at 325.69 to end the defending series champion's five-race winning streak.