"The day I took my first check, that's when the fun was over," Tasca said. "Now we're racing to win."
He might have had a hard time convincing himself when he first started with the Alcohol Funny Car in January 2005. He didn't even know how to start it. "We had to fly Randy Anderson in from California to show us," he said, a bit chagrined.
He knows what he's doing now, all right. Force was among the ones who saw him go up against multi-time series champion Frank Manzo and either beat him or push him to the limit.
"To win that quick shows he has the coolness, and this ain't bull," Force Said, "because I've watched him go up there under all that pressure . . . and win . . . Just calm and cool. They've got the talent. They'll excel if they have the time, because business is priority. That's what Grandpa says."
So how does John Force know what Bob Tasca Sr. thinks? He has become part of the extended Tasca family. Despite a sizeable chunk of sponsorship money from Ford Racing that likely was siphoned from Force's multi-car operation, the 14-time champion has swallowed the arrangement as graciously has he has Nonna Tasca's unsurpassed cooking.
Oh, how Force loved her cooking from the first bite of it. She knew the right blend of tomatoes, olive oil, and herbs for her indescribably tasty sauce, for which Force pronounced her "the best cook in America." For Force, that and the strength of family that he saw at the Tasca dinner table was a fuel more powerful than nitromethane.
At those gatherings -- "Grandma Tasca, who I think runs it all," Force said -- was where the Californian first felt a sense of family. The delicious food was a bonus, for what whetted his appetite for a closer look at this family was what he saw at the Providence dealership decades ago, one snowy day, when he went in to buy a Ford Explorer. "I noticed that on their wall was [a photo of] their race car and Bob Glidden's. And it was all about Ford. And they knew who I was."
He struck up a conversation with Tasca Sr. which changed his career and life. Tasca took Force to dinner that night and conversation turned to the trouble Force was having with General Motors at the time. After that, Tasca made a call and Force soon was in business with Ford.
"The deal I got was better than the deal I had with GM after eight championships," he said. But it was clear his respect for Tasca Sr. went deeper: "It was that attitude of the Tasca family. I learned so much from Bob Sr. He wrote a book: 'You Will Be Satisfied.' That means Customer is No. 1. Even though I drive for Ford, Ford is my customer. I have to deliver for them. I never forgot that."
Even if that means trying to beat John Force, Bob Tasca III is ready to deliver.
"The Third" is ready to be the first.