Tasca Blog - Holiday Wishes

This off season is flying by!

Since I've been back from Pomona, I've been running nonstop. For me, the off season starts with year-end planning; meeting with the crew chiefs to go over all of the expenses and review all of the big ticket items that are on order - race car chassis, engine blocks, clutch discs, clutch floaters and blowers, just to name a few. I'm always amazed to see the amount of parts that run through one of these programs over the course of a year! We also finalized the paint scheme for the 2011 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang Funny Car. This is an important item to get done as soon as possible. We need plenty of time to get the cars wrapped and it determines the design of the crew shirts, fire suits and awning designs.

I think I was home a week and then left again for Las Vegas. I was invited to be a guest speaker for the Motorsports Marketing Forum. It's always great to participate in these types of forums because you get to meet all the big names in the industry. I sat on a panel discussing the State of Motorsports. The panel included Brad Brown, Senior Director of Sports Marketing, Anheuser-Busch; Joie Chitwood, President, Daytona International Speedway; David Grant, Principal, Team Epic and Velocity Sports & Entertainment; Steve Lauletta, President, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing; and Steve O'Donnell, Senior Vice President of Racing Operations, NASCAR. It was a great discussion. Certainly, with the state of the economy, it has been a challenging time for the industry but I came away with a great feeling for our sport. NHRA has really weathered the economic storm in a strong way compared to other motorsport bodies. That's a great testament to our fans!!

I don't think I was in Vegas for 24 hours and then I was back on a plane to get home. I didn't want to miss the birth of my fourth son, Dylan Anthony Tasca. He was born on December 7th. Terri and Dylan are doing well, as are our other sons, Bobby, Austin and Cameron. Dylan is a future Ford driver for sure!

This week I'm heading to Charlotte for a team Christmas party and a bunch of meetings. Before you know it we will be heading out to Palm Beach for a week long test session from January 31st through February 4th. We are going to end the test session with a match race on Friday night. There will be a bunch of Dragsters and Funny Cars there. If you happen to be in the Palm Beach. Florida, area on the 4th of February, swing by to see us.

Thanks to all my friends and fans for a terrific 2010 season. I wish all of you a great holiday season and happy, healthy new year.

See you at the track... Bob