Bob Tasca III is aware the stakes have changed this weekend in Reading. Pa.

He and his team are beginning the six-race Countdown to the Championship at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals.

Tasca’s team stayed calm in the moment on Friday night as he clocked a 3.874-second elapsed time at 334.90 mph in Q2 to take the provisional No. 1 spot at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals.

If Tasca keeps the No. 1 spot, it would be his fifth of the season and the 14th of his nitro Funny Car career, which began in 2008.

“Every point matters at this point,” said Tasca, who pilots the Ford Motorcraft /Quick Lane Mustang. “You get those bonus points, and I think we got five, and that’s big. To be here at Maple Grove, the Koretsky family is like family to us, and we are big sponsors at the racetrack. This is the first track I debuted professionally at in my alcohol Funny Car. I won the divisional race from Richmond (Va.) here (in Reading) against (Frank) Manzo. I have won in my nitro car (in 2009, beating Mike Neff in the finals).

“I have great memories here, and to just see what (the Koretskys) have done to this facility and to come out in front of these fans on a Friday night and run low ET is a lot of fun.”

Veteran NHRA racer Kenny Koretsky and his family, including his sons Kenny Jr. and current Pro Stock driver Kyle, purchased Maple Grove Raceway, located just outside of Reading, Pa., last April.

Tasca, who resides in Hope, R.I., didn’t hide his love for Maple Grove Raceway.

“This is my home away from home,” Tasca said. “I love being here, and to win here is critical. We are a couple of rounds out of first place, and a good weekend here could really change the game for us as we march on to the championship. To do it, you have to go toe-to-toe with the best, and you saw that Mustang banging heads with Robert Hight in Q1, and we were within a couple of thousandths, and in Q2, we were in a couple of thousandths, and I think you’re going to see a lot of that from now until the end of the year.”

Tasca has not had much success in Reading since 2009, which he addressed.

“Sometimes the racing gods smile on you, and sometimes they don’t, but I can assure you this is a very, very different team. This is a very, very different car than I have ever had in my career, and we showed all season long – hot track, we can go low ET, cool track we can go low ET, that’s what makes our team so dangerous.

“What really makes us a championship contender is you’re starting to see our consistency. People can do it once or twice, go do it four or five … eight times in a row, and that’s what is making our team a whole different program. I’m looking forward to (Saturday), and we are going to take one run at a time and get as many points as we can every time we pull up and try and go into Vegas (Oct. 26-29) and Pomona, Calif. (9-12) with a shot at the championship.”

Tasca has been on the championship climb since 2019. He finished fifth in the points standings in 2019 and 2020 and was third in 2021. He finished fourth in 2022.

“Kenny (Koretsky) is like a big brother I never had, so to be in partnership with this track (Maple Grove) with some sponsorship and go out here and run good and win this race, that would be pretty sweet,” Tasca said.

With Countdown underway, Tasca fully believes in what his team can accomplish.

“My confidence has never been higher,” Tasca said. “Think about it: we are racing against teams, whether it is NAPA (Ron Capps) or Hagan or Hight, that have thousands and thousands of runs together, literally. We are 17 races in; that’s all we have. To see the amount of preparation and effort that these guys have put in from the offseason until now – all our confidence level is building. You can see it in (crew chief) Aaron (Brooks’) face and (crew chief) Todd (Okuhara’s) face and you can see it in the team and me as a driver; I have never driven better than I have this year. It is a tribute to the race car they gave us.

“All I’m going to do is the best we can do. We are going to put ourselves in a position to win and do the best we can do, and if it is good enough, then I believe we will have a real shot at the championship.”

With two qualifying sessions on Saturday, Tasca said his team will keep the pedal down.

“I can assure you that every single time this car goes to the (starting) line, we are going to try and be No. 1, No. 2, or No. 3,” he said. “You give yourself a chance by running at the back of the pack; you get to see what the other cars run, and bonus points matter. We picked up five (bonus points Friday). You pick up another five (Saturday), that is half a round, and that could be the difference between winning and losing the championship. So, I can assure you will never see that car go up to the line trying to run for the bottom half, that is for sure.”

Tasca knows the Countdown to the Championship causes teams like his to ramp up their focus.

“It is just the heightened level of awareness and the urgency, the urgency to have to perform,” Tasca said. “When you’re in the regular season, there are some test runs, and you’re trying some things; you’re just getting yourself set up for a run. When you’re in the Countdown to the Championship, there is no test. The urgency is higher. Every run means more, and the hourglass is ticking because there are just six races left, five and four… you can’t make up a bad weekend.

“The pressure is on, and I think the teams that can stand up to the pressure are going to be there in Vegas and Pomona, and the teams that can’t, there are going to start to fall off pretty quick.