Tagliani wins the pole in Edmonton and takes the checker flag in Saskatoon!

Rounds 6,7 & 8 of the 2022 NASCAR Pinty’s Series included stops in Edmonton and 2 races in Saskatoon

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. July 28th, 2022 – Canadian driver Alex Tagliani, of Lachenaie, Quebec started the western swing of the NASCAR Pinty’s series season on a high note winning the pole in Edmonton for the BAYER 300 and 4 days later picked up his first checker flag of the season in race number two of the Leland Twin 125s in Saskatoon.

Edmonton (Saturday July 23^rd) -The race started the way Tagliani had hoped. He won the pole with a time of 12.87 seconds. However, things didn’t go as planned and Tag was shuffled back very quickly fighting a loose car. They waited patiently for a yellow to improve the car, and they did. After pitting, Alex restarted 13^th and drove the #18 VIAGRA - St-Hubert - Qwick Wick - NTN Chevrolet Camaro back to the 5^th position at the mid-race break, a chance to fight for the win was now possible. 

The second half of the race was more of a challenge. On lap 160, the 9 car came down on Tag coming out of turn 2 and both cars got tangled and crashed into the inside wall on the back stretch. The 9 was able to drive away, but there was major damage to Tagliani’s car. After extensive repairs, Tag was barely able to keep the car low low on track to allow everyone to pass on the outside and ended the race with an 18^th place finish.

 

“We were fast as the pole would indicate”, said Tagliani, “but it wasn’t the finish we wanted.The team did an amazing job in the pit, after the change that Scott made The car came alive, we came thru the field cleanly up to 5^th. By restarting 5^th we had a good shot at a win.  I am not sure why the 9 tried to defend so aggressively since I was already on the inside. Once the cars got hooked I was a passenger to the inside wall. The alignment was pretty off and the car a handful to drive after that. 

 

Saskatoon (Wednesday July 27^th) - In race number one of the Leland Twin 125s Tag started 6^th. His car was competitive and he maintained an 8^th place position for the majority of the race. However, with 34 laps to go, Tag had to pit after suffering damage to his right front fender trying to avoid a wreck on the backstretch. After restarting 17^th with 25 laps to go, he was able to fight his way back for a 7^th place finish.

 

“In race one, we were competitive”, said Tagliani “but we are always behind side by side racing and we weren’t able to advance as quickly as we wanted. We dodged a big bullet when the 20 car sitting backwards on the backstraight. Although I ripped the right front fender off when we got stacked up by clipped the left rear of the 22, it could have been much worse had I piled into the 20 car sitting backwards on the track.”

 

Race number two of the Leland Twin 125s was a different story. Tagliani started in the 10^th position by using lap time from race one, after the 22Racing team made some major changes to the #18 VIAGRA – St-Hubert – Qwick Wick – NTN Chevrolet Camaro. Right out of the box it was evident Tag’s car was the fast. He made it to the lead on lap 43 and he never relinquished the position. The 27 car of Andrew Ranger did his best to keep up and make a challenge for the lead, but Tagliani’s car was too good and he was able to collect his first win of the 2022 season.

 

“Between the 2 races Crew Chief Scott Steckly made a few suggestions to make the car faster.” said Tagliani. “Scott and the team went to work and did an amazing job with the changes and the repairs. The car really strong. We were able to move up quickly from our 10^th place starting spot. Colin did a great job spotting for me, it was busy out there. It was no small feat to stay up front, the field was very strong and competitive, Andrew was really strong as well, so he pushed me really hard their was no place to mistakes  I am very proud of the team, the smiles on their faces after the race said it all. It was important to get a win for our oval program. All this was possible from all the hard work of the 3 team 18,20 and 22 and Mccoll Chassis to get the car back on track after Edmonton. Our car as now the nickname Frankenstein”.

 

“I’m looking forward to Trois-Rivieres in 2 weeks. It has always been a great place for us and now we are going in with a great deal of momentum. Things are beginning to look good for the team.”

 

At time of release, the current driver’s standings had not been updated. The Bayer 300 will air on TSN on Sunday, July 31^st at 12:00 pm ET. The Leland Twin 125’s will air on TSN on Saturday, August 6^th at 2:00 pm ET.

 

The NASCAR Pinty’s Series heads next to Trois-Rivieres, QC for Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres on Sunday, August 7^th for the ninth race of the 2022 season.

 

Fans can 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.

 

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Photos of Alex Tagliani
Photo credit : TAG Motorsport

Source:

Tag Motorsport
Jerry Hall for Alex Tagliani
519-868-4955
vitfin@rogers.com 
Samuel Gosselin Media
514-654-2004
samgosselinmedia@gmail.com