MOORESVILLE, N.C. — It was incredible; and Jack Beckman, the 2012 NHRA Funny Car champion, and I were stunned when we saw 341.68 mph flash on the screen.
I paused for confirmation before blurting out the number to the audience at Florida’s Bradenton Motorsports Park.
Bob Tasca III had driven his Ford Mustang Funny Car to 341.68 mph in 1,000 feet. He was the first to go faster than 340 mph. That run came Feb. 9 during the fourth and final round of qualifying for the SCAG Power Equipment PRO Superstar Shootout.
Tasca ran 339 mph the previous night, tying the record set by Robert Hight at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway in 2017.
Rounds two and three of qualifying took place in the heat of the day on Friday, so no records were threatened. But as the sun dipped into the Gulf of Mexico just 20 minutes west of Bradenton Motorsports Park, excitement started to build as the nitro-fueled engines came to life for the final round of qualifying.
Tasca was in the final pair alongside 16-time NHRA Funny Car champ John Force. The Rhode Island native stomped on the throttle and the beautiful header flames lit up the night sky as he rocketed down the strip and into history.
Since this wasn’t an NHRA-sanctioned event, the speed isn’t recognized as an NHRA record, but those who were there or watching the broadcast saw something that might never happen again.
The SCAG Power Equipment PRO Superstar Shootout was spectacular. Eight-car fields for the Top Fuel and Funny Car categories made for intense qualifying sessions as the winner in each of the two nitro classes banked $250,000.
Doug Kalitta put away Clay Millican in the finals for the Top Fuel win. Millican ran a career-best 336 mph during the weekend and collected a $10,000 bonus for being the No. 1 qualifier in Top Fuel.
Austin Prock has been selected to sub for Robert Hight while he takes some time away from racing. Prock, who has wheeled a Top Fuel car for John Force Racing, couldn’t get past the Christmas Tree in his first seven runs during the Superstar Shootout.
However, when it mattered, Prock got the job done in the car tuned by his father and brother, taking down NHRA Funny Car champ Matt Hagan for the victory.
With $125,000 earmarked for the winner, the 16-car Pro Stock field provided the same level of intensity. Reigning champ Erica Enders showed she is ready to challenge for NHRA title No. 7 as she claimed the big check.
Quite a few big names such as Ron Capps didn’t qualify for the eight-car Funny Car and Top Fuel fields. To make it worth their effort, PRO ran Funny Car vs. Top Fuel eliminations for those who missed the cut. In the final, it was the Funny Car of Chad Green beating the dragster of Steve Torrence.
There were a lot of questions as to what the folks at PRO (Professional Racers Organization) were trying to accomplish by staging their own event. What we learned from talking to a variety of team owners, drivers and event personnel was that PRO wanted to try something different.
Some of it was in how they stepped up the fan experience, which based on the sold-out crowd on race day was a huge success. PRO also tried some unique things such as random draws to see who raced who during eliminations, adding a twist to the proceedings.
PRO also spent a ton of money upgrading Bradenton Motorsports Park. They moved the gigantic scoreboards back 25 feet. They spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in paving the pit area. They also enhanced the MUSCO lighting. Overall, the event was a huge success for the fans and competitors.
One of the key players in making it happen was Wes Buck, the editor and founder of Drag Illustrated. Buck is extremely passionate about drag racing and did an excellent job in orchestrating the event.
■From Bradenton, I drove over to Daytona Beach for a couple of days at Joe Skotnicki’s RPM Promoters Workshops. The workshops, which take place each year in Daytona Beach and Reno, offer a tremendous amount of information for race track promoters on how to improve their operations.
I also took in some great short-track action while in Florida. It was nice to see large crowds for the ASA Stars National Tour opener at New Smyrna Speedway along with the World of Outlaws late models, DIRTcar big-block modifieds and USAC sprint cars at Volusia Speedway Park.