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Tag: Alex Tagliani

  • Tagliani and Rhodes round out top three finishers in Canada

    Tagliani and Rhodes round out top three finishers in Canada

    In what has been a strong weekend for Alex Tagliani in the NASCAR Pinty Series, he was ready to test his skills in quite possibly his best shot to win the Truck Series race driving the famed No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Tundra.

    The Canadian had a decent qualifying starting spot of fourth and remained consistent throughout the race. He finished 13th in Stage 1 after making a pit stop late for track position and finished eighth in Stage 2. While Tagliani did not get to lead a lap, he was up front on the final restart with Brett Moffitt. The KBM driver tried to catch Moffitt but he ran out of time. He would wind up second, Tagliani’s best Truck Series finish ever.

    “It’s difficult because you never know if it’s going to go green all the way, as you give up too much distance and there’s no way with the level of competition you can make it up,” Tagliani said to MRN Radio. “It was a pleasure to work with KBM, the whole 51 crew. Thanks to CanTORQUE/Spectra Premium/Rona. The engine was running cool, our RAD in the trucks today.”

    “We had a lot of fun, we were just missing a little bit on the front end. It was a bit tight everywhere. So we made some really good changes and increase the competition on the truck, but not enough for the 24 (Moffitt) today.”

    Ben Rhodes and his No. 99 ThorSport Racing team used pit strategy during the Chevy Silverado 250 to finish third.

    “We had a solid F-150 but we were just lacking in some areas,” Rhodes told MRN Radio. “You know, Tagliani was really, really fast. Moffitt had the best of us today so we’ll go back and do our homework, but really happy to give our Havoline Ford a third-place finish. I think this would be their fifth race coming back and really excited to have them on board.”

    With Rhodes not being in the playoffs, he can now focus on winning and perhaps learning something for next years Playoffs.

    “It’s pretty much going after wins,” Rhodes added to MRN Radio. “It’s just trying to outdo people on strategy, trying to get ourselves track position the best we can and make it easiest on me as possible. So far, my crew has been doing an awesome job, the crew chief and engineer have been calling awesome races. Really proud of our efforts on that.”

    The top-five finish was Rhodes sixth of the season. He also led once for nine laps.

  • Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Canada

    Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Canada

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series began their playoff run to Southern Florida this past weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park as it continues to be the most exciting series of 2018.

    With the track known for its controversial finishes and top moments in the series for the past five years, it didn’t disappoint this year with another exciting finish.

    Here are four takeaways from the Chevrolet Silverado 250 at CTMP.

    1. Another Exciting Ending – In the past prior to the 2018 race, there have been several exciting finishes to the end of the races at CTMP. In 2013, it was Chase Elliott who made contact with Ty Dillon in the last corner of the race and went on to win. The next year, saw Ryan Blaney edge German Quiroga to the line in a clean finish. In 2016, John Hunter Nemechek won the race after bouncing and taking Cole Custer off the track, and into the wall, ending with Custer tackling Nemechek after the race. In 2017, Austin Cindric did a bump and run, spinning Kaz Grala out to win the race and lock himself into the Playoffs. This year was no exception. On the last lap, Noah Gragson accidentally took out his Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Todd Gilliland for the race win but was unable to successfully complete the maneuver, which saw a thrilling ending to the end of the race. The two teammates were able to recover but were relegated to ninth and 11th in the official results, after almost having a 1-2 finish.
    2. Justin Haley Breaks Through – The No. 24 GMS Racing driver was able to break through after all the mess on the final lap to lock himself into the Round of 6. It was Haley’s second win of his career and the first since Gateway in the summer. Haley can breathe a little easier with not having to worry about Las Vegas and the wildcard race at Talladega to end the round. He continues to be quietly consistent this year and it would not be a surprise if he ends up being in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami in Southern Florida. GMS Racing continues to be the team to beat for the championship, whether it will be Haley or Johnny Sauter.
    3. Timothy Peters Gets A For Effort- After Red Horse Racing shut down a few years ago, it left veteran Timothy Peters without a ride. Since then he has competed part-time in the series driving for multiple teams. When the news broke prior to the race weekend that Dalton Sargeant and his team had parted ways this would have seen Spencer Gallagher replace Sargeant to drive at CTMP. However, Gallagher had a shoulder injury and wasn’t able to compete in the race. This gave Peters the opportunity to step in but it almost didn’t happen either. His passport was expired so he had to get it renewed and did not leave for Canada until Friday morning. Peters made the trip and qualified fifth, finished eighth in both stages, led two laps and wound up finishing fourth for his second top-10 of the 2018 season and scored his 124th career top-10 finish. It was his best finish in the top five since Charlotte of last year, where Peters finished fifth. It will be interesting to see if this opportunity will allow Peters to get more chances in the Truck Series and potentially end up full time again. Only time will tell.
    4. Alex Tagliani Scores Top-10 Finish – Lost in all the excitement from Sunday’s race and finish could very well be, Alex Tagliani who piloted the No. 12 of Young’s Motorsports. He had a quiet race, but is normally found inside the top-10 or competing for race wins at road courses, when the right opportunity comes along. Tagliani, who regularly competes in the NASCAR Pinty Series in Canada, earned his second career top-10 finish in the Truck Series in his fourth start. He didn’t earn any stage points in either stage, but nonetheless, Tagliani continues to impress at road courses in whatever equipment he races.

    The Truck Series now takes two weeks off before continuing their Round of 8 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday night September 14.

  • Alex Tagliani Wins XFINITY Pole at Road America

    Alex Tagliani Wins XFINITY Pole at Road America

    By Staff report | NASCAR.com

    Alex Tagliani won the Coors Light Pole Award at Road America on Friday in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Tagliani wheeled his No. 22 Team Penske Ford around the 4.05-mile road course at a top speed of 109.866 mph.

    That was better than Michael McDowelll, who finished second in his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet at 109.561 mph.

    For Tagliani, it was his fourth pole win in the NASCAR XFINITY Series and his second at Road America.

    Justin Marks (No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet), Owen Kelly (No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) and Daniel Suarez (No. 19 JGR Toyota) rounded out the top five qualifiers.

    Alon Day, who hails from Israel, is a NASCAR Next driver and is driving the MBM Motorsports No. 13 Dodge, found trouble in Round 1 of qualifying when he went into the sand trap off Turn 12 (of 14) with just over 16 minutes remaining in the opening session. The incident brought out a red flag.

    Another red flag came out during Round 1 when Josh Bilicki, who was driving the No. 77 Obaika Racing Chevrolet, spun coming off Turn 1, slid through the sand trap and impacted the tire barrier.

    The Road America 180 Fired Up by Johnsonville gets underway at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday (NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and marks the third road-course race in four events for the series.

    Complete Starting lineup

  • Regan Smith Pulls Last Lap Move For XFINITY Win At Mid-Ohio

    Regan Smith Pulls Last Lap Move For XFINITY Win At Mid-Ohio

    By Chris Knight
    NASCAR Wire Service

    LEXINGTON, Ohio—What a difference a week makes.

    After experiencing pure frustration last weekend at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, Regan Smith answered his second road course race of the season with a bump-and-run on leader Alex Tagliani in the second-to-last corner on the last lap to score his first NASCAR XFINITY Series win of the season in Saturday’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

    The short-track-like move ended a 52-race winless streak for Smith driving the No. 7 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports.

    “These guys work their butts off all week,” said Smith after earning his fifth career win. “This car was destroyed door tops down, they rebuilt it in one day. The guys back at the shop phenomenal job, my road guys have stuck behind me for a while. We’ve had a lot of opportunities to win. I hate to do it in the last corner, but it’s been too long, a long time, I wasn’t going to pass the opportunity up.

    “I’ve been wrecked so many times on these road courses, I had to do what I had to do right there. I didn’t spin him, just got the spot. We’re going to celebrate hard tonight.”

    Tagliani, who was searching for his first XFINITY Series victory in seven races, had to settle for a disappointing second after taking the lead from Smith with 15 laps remaining.

    “If I knew that he was going to win like that probably instead of passing him fair and square early on in the race, I would have probably pushed him off a bit,” said Tagliani. “But, he knows I’m not going to be there next weekend to retaliate.”

    In his first XFINITY Series race of the season, Tagliani scored his third career Coors Light Pole in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford and jumped to the early lead, separating himself by more than 1.2 seconds over defending race winner Chris Buescher until the first caution of the day on Lap 6 for a stalled car on the backstretch.

    With pit strategy already on the minds of crew chiefs, many of the leaders elected to pit early, but Boris Said stayed out and inherited the lead for the restart. Said’s time at the front was short-lived, as he was immediately challenged on the restart by reigning XFINITY Series champion Chase Elliott, who took the lead in Turn 1.

    Elliott led until Lap 12 when the second caution waved for Kenny Habul. Leaders Elliott and Said pitted, with Elliott Sadler assuming the top spot briefly before Buescher grabbed control from his Roush Fenway Racing teammate.

    Following the third caution of the race, Tagliani swiped the lead from Buescher in Turn 3, only to have his momentum stalled by a caution for fluid on the race track.

    Tagliani maintained the race lead through the halfway point.

    Under a Lap 41 yellow, the majority of the field made their final scheduled pit stop, with Smith claiming the lead after pit stops and the racing resuming with 30 laps remaining.

    Despite another yellow flag for fluid on the track, the leaders elected to stay out.

    Racing resumed with 20 laps to go with Smith easily escaping from the furry of furious side-by-side action behind him. Tagliani, though, quickly emerged from the pack and set his sights on Smith, setting up to reassume command on Lap 61 and set the tone for the thrilling finish.

    Buescher leads Ty Dillon by 24 points in the XFINITY Series standings.

    NASCAR XFINITY Series Race – Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio
    Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
    Lexington, Ohio
    Saturday, August 15, 2015

                   1. (7) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 75, $54536.

                   2. (1) Alex Tagliani, Ford, 75, $53559.

                   3. (3) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 75, $36111.

                   4. (2) Chris Buescher, Ford, 75, $34901.

                   5. (6) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 75, $30734.

                   6. (10) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 75, $26756.

                   7. (5) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 75, $24890.

                   8. (11) Darrell Wallace Jr. #, Ford, 75, $25157.

                   9. (16) Dylan Lupton, Chevrolet, 75, $23878.

                   10. (8) Ben Rhodes, Chevrolet, 75, $24550.

                   11. (9) Daniel Suarez #, Toyota, 75, $23523.

                   12. (12) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 75, $23448.

                   13. (4) Boris Said, Toyota, 75, $23347.

                   14. (21) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 75, $23220.

                   15. (13) Justin Marks, Chevrolet, 75, $23545.

                   16. (26) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 75, $23068.

                   17. (14) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 75, $22967.

                   18. (20) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 75, $23040.

                   19. (32) Ross Chastain #, Chevrolet, 75, $22765.

                   20. (24) Cale Conley #, Toyota, 75, $23213.

                   21. (22) Andy Lally, Chevrolet, 75, $22638.

                   22. (17) Ryan Reed, Ford, 75, $22592.

                   23. (23) Dakoda Armstrong, Ford, 75, $22557.

                   24. (30) Blake Koch, Toyota, 75, $22497.

                   25. (36) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, 75, $16575.

                   26. (35) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 75, $22389.

                   27. (25) Michael Self, Chevrolet, 75, $16354.

                   28. (15) Kenny Habul, Toyota, 75, $22324.

                   29. (19) Brandon Jones(i), Chevrolet, 75, $22289.

                   30. (34) Tim Cowen, Ford, 72, $16543.

                   31. (28) David Starr, Toyota, 69, $22198.

                   32. (27) Tomy Drissi, Toyota, Accident, 68, $22152.

                   33. (37) Mike Harmon, Chevrolet, 68, $16121.

                   34. (18) Dylan Kwasniewski, Chevrolet, 66, $16101.

                   35. (31) Eric McClure, Toyota, 60, $22063.

                   36. (29) Carlos Contreras, Chevrolet, Suspension, 50, $14562.

                   37. (39) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Fuel Pump, 33, $13562.

                   38. (40) John Jackson, Chevrolet, Brakes, 18, $12562.

                   39. (38) Josh Reaume #, Dodge, Fuel Pump, 6, $11562.

                   40. (33) Jeff Green, Toyota, Vibration, 3, $10562.

     Average Speed of Race Winner:  67.493 mph.
    Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 30 Mins, 33 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.766 Seconds.
    Caution Flags:  8 for 25 laps.Lead Changes:  8 among 6 drivers.

    Lap Leaders:   A. Tagliani 1-7; B. Said 8-9; C. Elliott 10-13; E. Sadler 14-15; C. Buescher 16-25; A. Tagliani 26-42; R. Smith 43-60; A. Tagliani 61-74; R. Smith 75;.

    Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  A. Tagliani 3 times for 38 laps; R. Smith 2 times for 19 laps; C. Buescher 1 time for 10 laps; C. Elliott 1 time for 4 laps; E. Sadler 1 time for 2 laps; B. Said 1 time for 2 laps.

    Top 10 in Points: C. Buescher – 765; T. Dillon – 741; C. Elliott – 740; R. Smith – 714; E. Sadler – 705; D. Wallace Jr. # – 665; D. Suarez # – 658; B. Scott – 643; B. Gaughan – 642; R. Reed – 587.

  • Alex Tagliani Wins Truck Series Pole at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

    Alex Tagliani Wins Truck Series Pole at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

    Alex Tagliani won the Keystone Light Pole Award and set a new track qualifying record at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with a lap of 80.558 seconds at 109.889 mph. As he leads the field to green in Sunday’s Chevrolet Silverado 250 race, he will also be making his debut in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

    Tagliani competes in the Canadian Tire Series and has one previous start in the series at this track in 2008 where he finished in fifth place. He also competes in IndyCar.

    After qualifying he talked about his preparation for qualifying and racing this weekend.

    “We went out, the truck was fast from the get go,” he said. “We had just one little glitch we had to fix, we had some fuel pressure issues. Basically it took about 25 minutes to fix that and then we went and ran and made sure that everything was good. We parked it before the session was over, the guys were happy enough. We used the second practice getting ready for the race tomorrow.”

    Tagliani also spoke about being part of the Brad Keselowski Racing team saying, “I feel really honored to be here and drive his truck.”

    NASCAR Next driver Gray Gaulding will start beside him on the outside pole. Erik Jones will begin the race in the third position followed by German Quiroga Jr. and Cole Custer to round out the top five.

    Several drivers had difficulties keeping their trucks on the track including third place finisher Jones who went off track during qualifying. Joey Coulter, who drove his No. 21 into the tire barriers, qualified in the 15th position. Ryan Blaney, who will start 14th, got sideways and Matt Crafton had similar issues but will begin the race in eighth place.

    Series’ point leader Johnny Sauter will start the race from the 11th position.

    The Chevrolet Silverado 250 is scheduled for Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET, with television coverage on FOX Sports 1.

    Complete Starting Lineup:

    POS. CAR DRIVER
    1 19 Alex Tagliani
    2 20 Gray Gaulding
    3 51 Erik Jones
    4 77 German Quiroga Jr
    5 0 Cole Custer
    6 53 Andrew Ranger
    7 54 Darrell Wallace Jr
    8 88 Matt Crafton
    9 17 Timothy Peters
    10 32 Cameron Hayley
    11 98 Johnny Sauter
    12 31 Ben Kennedy
    13 9 Brennan Newberry
    14 29 Ryan Blaney
    15 21 Joey Coulter
    16 8 John Hunter Nemechek
    17 13 Jeb Burton
    18 99 Bryan Silas
    19 2 Tyler Young
    20 35 Mason Mingus
    21 7 Ray Courtemanche Jr
    22 50 T.J. Bell
    23 63 Scott Stenzel
    24 8 B J McLeod
    25 36 Justin Jennings
    26 6 Norm Benning
    27 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb
    28 0 Caleb Roark
  • Gaughan Wins in Thrilling Finish at Road America

    Gaughan Wins in Thrilling Finish at Road America

    Nationwide Series Race Recap by NASCAR

    June 21, 2014

    ELKHART LAKE, Wisconsin – Brendan Gaughan survived two early off-track excursions and a race in which much of the second half was contested in rain as cars rode on wet weather tires to win Saturday’s Gardner Denver 200 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Road America.

    It was the third time in NASCAR history – all on road courses and all on the NNS circuit – that a race has been run in rain. The other two were in Montreal in 2008 and 2010, also on a road course (Circuit Gilles Villeneuve).

    Racing in the rain ignited something in Gaughan that helped overcome and forget his early misfortune and go on to earn his first career win on the Nationwide circuit in 98 starts (he also has eight career wins in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series).

    “I love racing in the rain, it’s fun,” said Gaughan, who was in the 2010 Montreal race, and has driven in rain several other times in other series. “And when you’re good at it, it makes it even more fun.

    “I haven’t smelled blood in a long time, that’s something I’ve been lacking lately, that killer attitude. When it started to rain, even without the wiper blade (was broken), I started to smell blood and said, ‘I’m coming.’

    “It’s fun to watch guys who haven’t done it in the rain. They don’t understand the rain line, and fortunately for me, I did.”

    Gaughan passed Chase Elliott for the lead on Lap 51 and held on for the two remaining laps to win.

    Gaughan beat runner-up Alex Tagliani by .820 seconds in a green-white-checkered finish that took the race to 53 laps, three more than the scheduled 50. It appeared it would be Tagliani’s race to win, as he was leading in the closing laps when he ran out of fuel on lap 49.

    Just seconds before, a caution flag was thrown when Justin Marks also ran out of fuel. Just past the pit entrance when his car stopped, Tagliani was able to roll his car down the downward sloping frontstretch, his crew pushed him into his pit stall, he took on fuel and switched from rain tires back to slicks and proceeded to roar through the field, restarting 23rd and ending up second three extra laps later.

    Such a tough defeat might be hard for some drivers to swallow, but Tagliani took the loss in stride.

    “It was pretty intense,” Tagliani said. “The wet was tricky, but obviously we were good. Maybe I threw a bad spell on myself because I said it was impossible that I was going to win this race, like something’s going to happen, and then on the white flag, something happened (ran out of gas).

    “It’s what it is. It’s not in the cards. You have to be quick, you have to have a good car and it has to be in the cards, and if it’s not, you just have to take whatever comes to you.”

    Tagliani came into the race hoping to be the fourth driver to win from the pole in the last five NNS races at Road America, but came up one spot short.

    The race was put under caution on Lap 25 and NASCAR mandated all cars switch to wet weather tires two laps later. They remained on rain tires until the final four laps, when teams had the option to switch back to slicks after Marks brought out the caution.

    Kevin O’Connell finished third, followed by Chase Elliott and J.J. Yeley.

    Sixth through 10th were Jeremy Clements, Andy Lally, Landon Cassill, Elliott Sadler and Mike Bliss.

    Of note about Cassill: Not only did he compete in Saturday’s race, he hopped a plane afterward to the west coast to be in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Sonoma Raceway.

    NOTES: Regan Smith, who finished 13th, retained his lead in the NNS points standings. Elliott Sadler (finished ninth) is second in the points, 10 points behind Smith, while Chase Elliott remains in third place (11 points back). The only drivers to make upward movement in the points in the top-10 were Brian Scott (sixth to fifth) and Cassill (11th to 10th).

     

  • Briscoe claims Sonoma victory, Power surges towards championship

    Briscoe claims Sonoma victory, Power surges towards championship

    With another chapter in the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series Championship complete we are now beginning to see the final stages of the campaign draw even closer.

    Ryan Briscoe capitalized on a great opportunity Sunday afternoon at Infineon Raceway to earn his first win in over two years.  Will Power dominated the first half of the race, but on lap 64, things went amiss.  As Power was in the pits, a caution flew for a collision with Josef Newgarden and Sebastian Bourdais.  The pits remained open under caution and Briscoe was able to pit the next time by.  Due to an unknown mishap in Powers pit stop, Briscoe exited his stall and beat out his Penske Racing teammate to the blend line, inheriting the lead.

    [media-credit name=”indycar.com” align=”alignright” width=”250″][/media-credit]From then on, Briscoe held off a charging Will Power for two more restarts, enabling himself to enter victory lane for the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma.

    “It feels so good to win here in Sonoma.  I got my first ever pole here back in ’05 and I’ve been so close the last sort of 4 years, 5 years and finally to get the win.  It was a good battle at the end there with Will and Dario.”  Briscoe stated after the race.

    Power’s #12 Verizon Wireless Chevrolet might have come across the finish line second after spending most of the day in the lead, but the Australian racer still heads to Baltimore on a positive note.  Coming into the Sonoma round bearing only a 5 point lead over Ryan Hunter-Reay, Power exits wine country with a 36 point advantage over Hunter-Reay.

    “It was a good day for us, points wise.  I feel bad for Hunter-Reay, he obviously got taken out.  That definitely hurts considering he had such a good drive up to third place.”  Says Power.

    While Power leaves Sonoma with momentum, Hunter-Reay enters Baltimore in desperate search of it with only two rounds remaining in the championship.

    Since Hunter-Reay’s summer hot streak of three consecutive wins, the Andretti Autosport driver has posted a best finish of 7th in Edmonton.  Of the three races since his last win (Edmonton, Mid-Ohio, and Sonoma) two of them have been DNF’s.  Hunter-Reay has seen his 34 point lead in the championship completely reverse course, he now trails the lead of Will Power by 36 points.

    The frustration was very evident on Hunter-Reay’s face after the race.

    “I can’t tell you how frustrated I am after the engine problems last week.  I ran so hard all day, I pushed so hard to get from seventh to third.  We had a great car for the end and it’s just usual Tag, he’s thinking right in front of himself rather than 10 feet, 15 feet ahead. ”

    Alex Tagliani was not hesitant to stand up to the events that took place on track when questioned about it after the race.

    “I take full responsibility. You know, I’m out there racing and I had a good run on Dario…It’s not that I’m not thinking about it (the championship) but I’m not going to lift either just because I don’t want to pass anybody and I’m afraid, and then get passed!”  Tagliani said.

    The series now heads straight to the east coast for the Grand Prix of Baltimore around the streets of Camden Yards this weekend, September 2nd.  Two weeks after that will be the season finale at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California with the MAVTV 500.

    Will Power will be the man everyone is watching this weekend as he looks to claim his first IndyCar Championship.  The main storyline to follow in the coming races will be if Power can shake the monkey off his back.  Recall, in 2010 and 2011 Power finished second in the points behind Dario Franchitti.  In 2011, the deficit was 18 points.  In 2010, a mere 5 points separated Power from his first title.  Both the previous two seasons Will earned two more victories than the eventual championship winner, Franchitti.

  • Canadian stars shoot for victory in Montreal

    Canadian stars shoot for victory in Montreal

    [media-credit name=”nascar.com” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Skimming through the entry list for this weekend’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race in Montreal one may find a few names that jump off the page.  What do Ron Fellows, Jacques Villeneuve, Alex Tagliani, and Patrick Carpentier all have in common this weekend?  They are all accomplished road course racers that venture into the NASCAR scene on rare occasion.  When the Nationwide Series makes its annual stop in Montreal, the four aforementioned drivers come to make an attempt at winning in their home country.

    Carpentier has returned from retirement for the NAPA Auto Parts 200 on August 18th, competing again in Michael Waltrip Racing’s #99 NAPA Toyota Camry entered by RAB Racing.  The five time CART winner has seen varying success at his home track.  In the inaugural running of the race in 2007, Carpentier grabbed the pole and finished 2nd.  The following year, Carpentier earned another runner-up finish at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.

    The next three races in Canada saw the Quebec native encounter misfortunes.  In 2009, Carpentier finished 38th due to engine troubles.  In 2010 and 2011, the MWR driver came across the start finish line 32nd, both due to mechanical troubles.

    Carpentier enters the weekend not only looking to turn his bad luck around, but to obtain an elusive victory in front of his home fans.

    Jacques Villeneuve has competed around the circuit named after his late father ten times in Formula 1, none of which the 41 year-old Canadian was able to achieve victory.  Though Villeneuve has been exceptional in qualifying for the Montreal race (three top-five starts in four attempts), he has an average finish in Montreal of 12.5 on the circuit that lays along the St. Lawrence river.  Driving the #22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger owned by Roger Penske brings high expectations for Jacques.

    “I feel, after winning the pole last year at Montreal,  that we can have a lot of success. A NASCAR victory is something I want.”  Villeneuve says of his potential with Penske Racing.

    With the IZOD IndyCar Series being off this weekend, Alex Tagliani is taking the opportunity to race for a third time at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.  In only having two NASCAR Nationwide Series starts in Montreal, Tagliani has experienced both good and bad performances. In 2009, the 39 year-old Montreal native finished 26th for MacDonald Motorsports.  In last year’s event, Tagliani capitalized on his Penske Racing ride to finish 2nd.

    This year “Tag” will be racing Turner Motorsport’s #30 Chevrolet.

    “I’m always proud to come back to Montreal and to be able to race on this fantastic road course named after one of my all-time racing heroes, Gilles Villeneuve.”  Tagliani says when speaking to nascar.com.

    “Montreal has been good to me to date and I’m hoping to better my racing history here.  Having a competitive car to challenge for the win is all I can wish for. ”

    Back in June, the #30 Turner Motorsports team went to victory lane on the first road course race of the season at Road America.  Nelson Piquet Jr. piloted the car to victory that day earning his first ever NASCAR Nationwide Series victory, Tagliani will look to mimic Piquet’s feat this weekend.

    After claiming a victory on his home soil in the 2008 rain shortened iteration of the NAPA Auto Parts 200,  Ron Fellows has seen a streak of bad luck come his way.  The year after his victory Fellows failed to complete the race due to a crash in turns 8 and 9, yielding him a 35th place finish.  In 2010, the Ontario Native experienced engine troubles and placed 30th in his home race.

    With the highest of highs and lowest of lows making up the 52 year olds past in a Nationwide car at Montreal, Fellows is gunning for a new high in his Nationwide Career.  Adding a second victory in his home country would provide the road course specialist with just that.

    In the five year history of the NAPA Auto Parts 200, only Ron Fellows has earned the thunderous applause of his home country’s crowd by going to victory lane.  Ironically, of the four Canadian stars heading into this weekend’s race, Ron Fellows is the only one born outside of the province of Quebec.

    For the diehard Canadian race fans, a keen eye will be on all Canadian’s participating in Montreal this weekend, but only a victory from a Canadian road course star from inside the borders of Quebec will prove to be a moment of true greatness for them.

  • Alex Tagliani To Drive For Bryan Herta Autosport

    It seems like the perfect combination on paper. The team that won the Indianapolis 500 last year has hired last year’s Indianapolis 500 pole winner to be their driver.

    Bryan Herta Autosport announced that Alex Tagliani will drive for them in 2012.

    With six top-10 finishes last year and two pole starts, BHA co-owners Bryan Herta and Steve Newey wanted to hire Tagliani due to his experience.

    “We are very proud to have Alex Tagliani join our team for our first full season of IndyCar competition,” Herta said in a press release. “He brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm to the program, and is the perfect fit for us and our sponsor partners. Together with Todd Malloy and Brian Page in engineering, and the Don Lambert-led crew, Alex has the full support of a very talented group of professionals behind him.”

    Tagliani will be behind a Lotus next year, as BHA previously announced it’s factory partner. On January 12th, BHA is expected to reveal the team’s primary sponsor.

    “I’m really happy to drive for BHA,” Tagliani said. “Having known Bryan for a long time, I recognize that he’s a nice guy with genuine integrity. I believe that he and Steve Newey deserve to own a great IndyCar team, and I’m honored to be part of the building of BHA’s 2012 program.

    “It’s also a great honor for me to represent the Lotus brand as a factory partner. Lotus has so much history in the world of motorsports. As a team, we have a lot of work in front of us and while challenging, it will be fun to be at the core of both engine and team development. BHA has a great group of people and I’m looking forward to working with them.”

    Veteran race engineer Todd Malloy has already been re-signed by the team to lead the engineering efforts for the team.

    Tagliani’s first task will be to lend his experience to the Lotus engine testing program, followed by team testing scheduled to begin in early February. The IZOD IndyCar Series kicks off the 2012 season March 25 on the streets of St. Petersburg.

  • Alex Tagliani Ready For Toronto After Early Season Success

    After fighting to keep a float last year and stay in the IZOD IndyCar Series, Alex Taglani is back and ready to make a run at it.

    The Lachenaie, Quebec, Canada native teamed up with Sam Schmidt at the beginning of the season to get things back on track this season.

    “Last year, he fought and fought to have that team and this year, he was able to partner Sam Schmidt – here’s a guy that was paralyzed in a car – and the fact that they’ve come together and been very successful,” Randy Bernard, IZOD IndyCar CEO, said during his presentation at the media luncheon in Toronto last week.

    This year for Tagliani has been successful, espically on the series’ biggest stage. Back in May, it was Tagliani taking the pole for the Indianapolis 500, which marked a surprise to a lot of people.

    “To me, in my sixteen months I’ve been here, I will say that’s in the top three highlights of my career here so far,” Bernard said of the moment. “The fact that I was sitting up in the grandstands and here’s a small team, not a Penske or Ganassi that just took the pole for the Indy 500, was a pretty amazing event.”

    The pole also equaled Tagliani being the first Canadian in history to win the pole for the Indianapolis 500 in its 100 year history. He backed that pole up two weeks later at the next event at Texas Motor Speedway, where he sat pole for the IndyCar Firestone Twin 275s.

    Tagliani has also had success beyond Indy, including a fifth place at the Grand Prix of Long Beach.

    “Slowly but surely this season is showcasing the results that comes from good teamwork and good sponsorship,” he said. “Now we look like a race team. Now we are really going after wins.”

    For the driver that most refer to just as Tag, he credits the sponsorship package from electronic entertainment experts Bowers and Wilkins.

    “The big thing is that our association with Bowers &; Wilkins was so good last year that it allowed us to develop the car this past winter,” Tagliani told the Toronto Sun last month. “It made a 180 degree difference. Instead of being a team that was 90% focused on building walls and floors (on the Indianapolis race shop) we were able to work on the car and nothing else for the 2011 season.”

    He’s also had success this year outside of the IndyCar Series as he ran the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race at the ICAR Circuit in Montreal. He sat on the pole for that event and led till being spun by his own teammate with less than five laps to go.

    Tagliani, who began his professional open-wheel career in the Toyota Atlantic Championship Series in 1996, will be one of the three Canadians trying to win the Honda Indy Toronto. 
    The Honda Indy Toronto, which is set to be run July 10th, is the first of three events for the IZOD IndyCar Series in Canada.

    Last year, Tagliani finished 17th last year, however had better success the year before with a ninth place finish. For Tagliani, the success has been better in Toronto for him when he was running the Champ Car World Series, which saw a second in 2002 and a third in 2005.

    For team owners Sam Schmidt, it’d mark a great milestone in the climb from being an Firestone Indy Lights owner to a IZOD IndyCar Series owner after winning four Indy lights championships.

    Part of getting that first win will be about getting the No. 77 car more consistent.

    “We still have a couple of thing to figure out how to make our set up more consistent during the race,” Tagliani said. “Once we solve that, and we are close, I want to find a way to win the championship.”

    For more information on Sam Schmidt Motorsports, check out http://www.samschmidtmotorsports.com/.

    For more information on Alex Tagliani, check out http://www.tagliani.com.