Pardon Bob Tasca if he’s not really in tune with how to react these days. In the first seven events of the season, the Motorcraft-sponsored driver reached three finals, winning twice and grabbing hold of the point lead from April until July. 

Then came the Western Swing, where Tasca won only two rounds in three races and dropped to second in the regular-season championship chase. He didn't fare much better in Topeka, but early season momentum enabled him to secure a Countdown berth the earliest he's ever done so in his career.

Please don’t feel bad for Tasca; he’s not in a natural slump. He’s just in uncharted territory. 

“A lot of years in my career, at this point in the season, I was really struggling to get into the top 10, and there’s a lot of pressure,” Tasca explained. “That’s a lot of pressure because the sponsors expect a championship-contending program, and that’s what we want to deliver to them. 

“The last couple of years, I’ve had a car that has put me in a position to win, race in, and race out. Certainly, the last three races were lower expectations. But then again, we were trying some stuff. So the luxury of being at the top at this time of the year is you can start the see what works, and what doesn’t work, as you’re getting ready for the championship and I know Mike {Neff] and John [Shaffer] did a little bit of that over the last three races. 

“Coming into this Topeka, we pretty much said, ‘okay, we could go back to some things that we were doing that we know works and we went out there last night and went to No. 3 qualifier with a great run. So I think the difference in this program for me as the owner and driver is confidence. It’s just a real high level of confidence that we have.”

Tasca isn’t cocky, because as he says, that attitude never works well in his favor. 

“No one’s been more humbled out here than me,” Tasca said. “But confident. I think that’s the difference between this team than the teams that I’ve been on in the past. So really looking forward to getting to Indy and getting this seven-race shootout on, and I’ve said to my guys, if we have a seven-race run like we did the first seven races of the year, we win the championship. Period. 

“I think that’s what we’re really looking at is to put together the run that we had early in the year during those last seven races and knock a couple down and get into Vegas and Pomona with a shot. And I’ve done it twice in my career where I’ve gone into Vegas with a shot. This year, I certainly have. I think the best shot to do that with the team that we have, and we’ll see. It’s going to be exciting.”

Unofficially, Tasca has clinched his berth into the 2021 playoffs. 

“We got great leadership at the top with Mike Neff and Jon Schaffer and a lot of confidence with this team,” Tasca said. “So the expectations are high, and we want to put a race car out there that can go out there and really compete for the win every single weekend, and we’ve done that. 

“We’re really starting to hone in on our setup for the countdown. Really excited. This is obviously my best shot to win the championship, I know that, the guys; I this team know that, and you’ve got to really seize that opportunity because you don’t get it every year. So we’re pretty confident that the setup that we have is going to give us a real shot to do that in the next couple races.”