SECOND PLACE FINISH FOR ALEX TAGLIANI IN THE NASCAR PINTY'S SERIES
Alex Tagliani drives the #18 car at Mosport
Montréal, May 23, 2022 - Canadian driver Alex Tagliani, of Lachenaie, QC climbed on the second step of the podium following Sunday's round 2 of the 2022 NASCAR Pinty's Series held at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) 3.957 kms 10-turn road course located near Bowmanville, Ontario.
Starting the race on the third row, Tagliani stayed with the leaders throughout the eBay Motors 200 to finish second, only five tenths of a second behind race winner Kevin Lacroix of St. Eustache, QC. Dexter Stacey of Kahnawake finished third to sweep the all Quebec drivers podium. It was Dexter Stacey's first NASCAR podium. Gary Klutt of Halton Hills, Ontario, leader of the race with two laps to go in regular time, finished fourth ahead of rookie driver LP Montour of Boisbriand, Quebec. Twenty-five cars started the 51-lap event that went into double overtime to 57 and only the top five finished on the lead lap.
On Saturday, qualifying was cancelled when a major storm swept the track area shortly after practice. So the grid was set on times recorded during the practice session. During practice, Tagliani drove his 22Racing Team #18 VIAGRA - St-Hubert Chevrolet Camaro to sixth place.
"The race started under wet conditions without any testing because there was no qualifying," commented Alex Tagliani following the race. "Still, the car looked good in the first three laps. I eventually moved into third place just before mid point, but the car had become a handful to drive by then. So, I decided to reduce the rhythm because the wheels were locking up. I did not think the race would continue under these conditions under the green flag so I decided to save the car. Eventually, the track dried up and I decided to stop for a tire change. During the stop, an air hose was displaced and when the team lowered the car, one of the tires landed on the hose and I received a drive through penalty. I went out and then did the drive through penalty, which cost me several positions on track."
"I once again climbed back to third place. Near the end of the race during one of the last few restarts, I had a skirmish with Kevin (Lacroix), then one with Klutt (Gary). They were really battling hard at the front and seeing the results of those in the hunt for the championship that had problems earlier in the race; I thought it would be safe to save those precious upcoming points. I decided to watch what was going on in front of me. Since many cars battling it out for the win were getting out of contention, it enabled me to finish second. It was a good race with all the points gathered for the championship."
"Team 22Racing did a good job, but there are improvements that can be made to the car for the upcoming races. It will be interesting to see how the car will perform in these races, but so far, it looks good," concluded Tagliani.
In the driver standings, Alex Tagliani moves from seventh place to third.
A delayed broadcast of the e-Bay Motor 200 will air on TSN on Saturday, May 28 at 4 p.m. ET and on RDS 2 on Sunday, June 12 at 10 a.m. ET.
NASCAR Pinty's Series drivers head to Quebec for Round 3 at Autodrome Chaudière in the Beauce region on Saturday, June 11.
Fans can still follow Alex Tagliani by visiting www.tagliani.com, or by following him on Twitter at @TAGLIANI, or @tagliani18 on Instagram and like him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Tagliani.
NASCAR.ca has live coverage of each event, including live timing and scoring, on Race Center.
Starting the race on the third row, Tagliani stayed with the leaders throughout the eBay Motors 200 to finish second, only five tenths of a second behind race winner Kevin Lacroix of St. Eustache, QC. Dexter Stacey of Kahnawake finished third to sweep the all Quebec drivers podium. It was Dexter Stacey's first NASCAR podium. Gary Klutt of Halton Hills, Ontario, leader of the race with two laps to go in regular time, finished fourth ahead of rookie driver LP Montour of Boisbriand, Quebec. Twenty-five cars started the 51-lap event that went into double overtime to 57 and only the top five finished on the lead lap.
On Saturday, qualifying was cancelled when a major storm swept the track area shortly after practice. So the grid was set on times recorded during the practice session. During practice, Tagliani drove his 22Racing Team #18 VIAGRA - St-Hubert Chevrolet Camaro to sixth place.
"The race started under wet conditions without any testing because there was no qualifying," commented Alex Tagliani following the race. "Still, the car looked good in the first three laps. I eventually moved into third place just before mid point, but the car had become a handful to drive by then. So, I decided to reduce the rhythm because the wheels were locking up. I did not think the race would continue under these conditions under the green flag so I decided to save the car. Eventually, the track dried up and I decided to stop for a tire change. During the stop, an air hose was displaced and when the team lowered the car, one of the tires landed on the hose and I received a drive through penalty. I went out and then did the drive through penalty, which cost me several positions on track."
"I once again climbed back to third place. Near the end of the race during one of the last few restarts, I had a skirmish with Kevin (Lacroix), then one with Klutt (Gary). They were really battling hard at the front and seeing the results of those in the hunt for the championship that had problems earlier in the race; I thought it would be safe to save those precious upcoming points. I decided to watch what was going on in front of me. Since many cars battling it out for the win were getting out of contention, it enabled me to finish second. It was a good race with all the points gathered for the championship."
"Team 22Racing did a good job, but there are improvements that can be made to the car for the upcoming races. It will be interesting to see how the car will perform in these races, but so far, it looks good," concluded Tagliani.
In the driver standings, Alex Tagliani moves from seventh place to third.
A delayed broadcast of the e-Bay Motor 200 will air on TSN on Saturday, May 28 at 4 p.m. ET and on RDS 2 on Sunday, June 12 at 10 a.m. ET.
NASCAR Pinty's Series drivers head to Quebec for Round 3 at Autodrome Chaudière in the Beauce region on Saturday, June 11.
Fans can still follow Alex Tagliani by visiting www.tagliani.com, or by following him on Twitter at @TAGLIANI, or @tagliani18 on Instagram and like him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Tagliani.
NASCAR.ca has live coverage of each event, including live timing and scoring, on Race Center.
- End -
Photos of Alex Tagliani
Photo 1 - Alex Tagliani on track at CTMP with his Chevrolet Camaro VIAGRA - St-Hubert.
Photo 2 - Alex discusses strategy with his spotter Colin Livingston.
Photo credit: TAG Motorsport
Source:
TAG E-karting
Max d'Orsonnens for Alex Tagliani
514-246-8909
maxdo@videotron.ca
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