Dearborn, Mich. — All it took was a little more than four seconds to complete a journey that started more than 40 years ago.

In exactly 4.200 seconds last weekend, Bob Tasca III did exactly that. Bob the Third’s victory in the 40th Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida, put a big ol’ exclamation point on a dream that started with his grandfather in the 1960s, one that eventually led to Ford Motor Company gettin’ into drag racin’ in the first place.

And, on Sunday, that’s where Bob the Third finished: in first place.

It is his first-ever Wally. It is also the first time a non-John Force Racing Ford won an NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car event since Whit Bazemore back in ’98.

Bob the Third also won in absolute attention-grabbin’ fashion: He qualified No. 1 on Friday (also for the first time in his career) and defeated, in order, Jim Head, Tim Wilkerson, John Force and Tony Pedregon. Wilkerson led the points race for much of last year before finishin’ second overall; Force is a 14-time champion; and Pedregon is a two-time champ. Bob the Third, by the way, is now just 125 wins behind Force on the all-time list.

And, if you’re goin’ to win a race, one called the “Gatornationals” ain’t a bad way to go. It ranks right up there with “Firecracker 400” as all-time great race names.

Tasca III now is in second place in the standings after three races, and all six Ford Racing drivers are in the top 12.

Meanwhile, a little farther south, Andrew Caddell opened defense of his ’08 Ford Racing Mustang Challenge championship by winnin’ the ’09 opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Plus, Ted Anthony, Jr., won the Ford Mustang Challenge Race 2, leadin’ all 28 laps en route to his second career victory.

Also at Homestead, the Michael Shank Racing team of Ozz Negri and Kenn Wilden, and the JBS Motorsports team of Bret Seafuse and James Gue, put their Mustang GTs 3-4 in the Grand-Am Koni Sports Car Challenge. It was Wilden’s sixth podium finish in seven races with the team, while Negri reached the podium in his debut, and the duo of Seafuse and Gue scored its second straight top-five.

So, for the Mustangs in Florida this past weekend, it was like spring break—with trophies.

The Sparkster did watch with interest the goings-on in south Florida; Ol’ Sparky just happens to know a little somethin’ about the infield road course at Homestead. It seems that a few years ago, durin’ January, the Sparkster just happened to be at the country’s southernmost big track. Carl Edwards also was there. A Ford GT was there. (Does anybody see where this is goin’?) A grinnin’ Edwards just happened to be sittin’ behind the wheel. And, the infield road course was empty.

“What do you think of the way this car handles?” Edwards asked.

“Don’t know,” the Sparkster said. “Have never been in one.”

“Get in,” Edwards said.

“Can’t,” Ol’ Sparky replied.

“I’m not gettin’ out until you see what this Ford GT can do,” Edwards said. Or words to that effect.

And, as usual, Edwards won. So, the Sparkster got in the Ford GT and secured the five-point harness. All five points. All of ’em. And, had there been other cars on the track, they never would’ve had a chance; Edwards would’ve won that, too. The dude can drive. He is a natural.

Some drivers just fight with the wheel the whole time; it’s nothin’ but a lap-by-lap argument. But some drivers seem to be an extension of the car itself—or maybe the car is an extension of the driver. Either way, that’s the way it is with Edwards.

The whole time he was like a kid on his birthday, and drivin’ that car at that moment was openin’ the biggest gift and eatin’ cake and ice cream all at the same time. The absolutely, 100-percent genuine smile never left his face. His left hand loosened the steerin’ wheel only long enough for the car to correct itself. His right hand left the gear shifter only long enough to slap the Sparkster on the shoulder while he was exclaimin’, “Isn’t this great?” Or, “Did you see that?”

He was precision-like and artistic in his approach. Because it was a road course, the corners—left, left, left, right, left is how it started—just kept comin’ one after another, and Edwards would set up the next turn or the one after that while completin’ the corner he was in. It was somethin’ to witness up close. Most of the time, to see in the same direction that the car was headed, the Sparkster had to look out one of the side windows. That Ford GT was sideways a lot. A lot. But it was always movin’ fast and forward.

After that, the only thing that surprised the Sparkster about Edwards’ NASCAR Sprint Cup Series-leadin’ nine victories last year was that none of them were on a road course.

One of them, though, was at Bristol Motor Speedway, which is where the series will be this weekend after takin’ off last weekend. In fact, Edwards has won one of the two annual races there in each of the last two seasons. Ol’ Steady Matty Kenseth won races there in ’05 and ’06. Team owner Jack Roush has 10 total victories there, second on the track’s all-time list.

And, overall, Ford has won 33 times at Bristol over the years, includin’ seven in a row from 1963-66. How many of the five drivers from that streak do you think you can name? One? Two? Three?

Well, it started with Fireball Roberts, and then Fred Lorenzen (who won three straight), and then Junior Johnson, Ned Jarrett and Dick Hutcherson, who ran 14 races for Holman-Moody in ’66 and won twice, including at Bristol, and put up eight top-fives.

This weekend marks the first short track race of the year, and the first of back-to-back stops; it’s on to Martinsville the following week. Hopefully, something very, very, very good happens for Travis Kvapil and the No. 28 team this week so they can keep racin’. The team started this year without a full sponsorship, and committed to runnin’ the first five. This weekend’s race at Bristol is the fifth of the year, and Kvapil, right now, is in 40th place, which, of course, is uncomfortably outside of that guaranteed top-35.

While rememberin’ those great Cobra Jets of the ‘60s, Ol’ Sparky went through this week’s mailbag.

Dear Sparky,

It sure was good to see Bill Elliott back on track at Atlanta after sitting out the races at Fontana and Las Vegas. Is the 21 car going to be at Bristol this weekend? You know, the Wood Brothers won there a few years ago.

Franklin,
Tennessee

No, Franklin, not this week. The Wood Brothers do not have a full sponsorship for 2009, but they certainly have a well thought-out plan that they are intent on sticking with—to the letter—for the entire season. That plan calls for them to show up and race to win a dozen times this year. It is quite an extensive plan, and if you were to spend a little time listening to it, you’d walk away with a Master’s Degree in Business; that’s how well Len can explain it. The 21 made good showin’s at Daytona and Atlanta (well, at least until gettin’ caught up in a wreck), and will be back at the track in a few weeks at Texas.