Tagliani moves up 15 spots after an on-track incident in the NASCAR season finale

Montreal, Quebec - Canadian Alex Tagliani finished seventh overall in the 2015 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series (NCATS) season finale held Saturday at the .375-mile Kawartha Speedway banked oval located in Fraserville near Peterborough, Ontario. The 5 p.m. start of the 250-lap race was postponed by rain for two and half hours and the delay and track conditions were not beneficial to the Terrebonne, Quebec driver when the race went green.

Starting ninth on the grid, Tagliani tangled with Joey McColm of Ajax, Ontario on lap 3 while trying to avoid the spinning car of Mark Dilley of Barrie, Ontario which had just hit a wet spot on the track. Tagliani was forced into the pits to check for damages on his number 18 EpiPen/CGI/CanTorque Chevrolet. He returned 22nd and last on the track before his making his comeback run. At mid race on lap 126, prior to the mandatory five-minute safety pit stop, Tag was already up to 12th place.

On a restart on lap 145, he was up to 10th, and nine laps later, rookies Kevin Lacroix and Dwayne Baker had a go at each other, banging cars during a full course yellow. Both drivers got a one-lap penalty, promoting Tagliani to seventh, only two seconds behind race leader and eventual winner Jason Hathaway of St. Thomas, Ontario. Six caution flags slowed down the race during 55 laps.

"Our game plan was to finish the first half of the race with a car in perfect condition, but that was not the case," Tagliani said. "When I tangled with McColm (Joey) on lap 3, I damaged the exhaust system. Then the fumes started to infiltrated the inside of the car during caution periods, and there were a lot of laps under caution. These fumes gave me a severe headache during the race. To add to this, we did not have the proper set ups. The front of the car was always sliding in the corners, causing the right front tire to wear prematurely. I had to run wide in the turns, opening the way to my competitors. Despite these problems, we still managed to finish seventh and on the lead lap.

"Overall, we had a very good season with the EpiPen/CGI/CanTorque Chevrolet. All year long we ran in the top-three of the Owners Championship, but managed to finish fourth despite a late race incident at Mosport. Now, it is time to work on the 2016 season plans," concluded Tagliani.

Hathaway led a race high 203 laps to win by 0.368 seconds ahead of Scott Steckly of Milverton, Ontario, but it was not enough to prevent Steckly from capturing his fourth series title with 446 points, four more than Hathaway. The Pinty's 250 will air on TSN on Saturday, October 3 at 1 p.m.

Despite missing two races, Tagliani finished ninth overall in the driver standings with 356 points, averaging 39.5 points for each of the nine races he entered. Had he run a full season, he would have been battling for third place in the driver standings. Tag had top-ten finishes in each of his nine starts. His NCATS career stats show two wins, six poles and 18 top-10s in 34 starts.

The participation of Tagliani Autosport in the 2015 NCATS ws the result of a partnership with Pfizer Canada Inc., the Canadian distributor of EpiPen® (epinephrine) auto-injectors. With his NASCAR program and participation in races across Canada, Alex is the ideal spokesperson to educate the 1.4 million Canadians who are affected by at least one food allergy and the severe life-threatening condition of anaphylaxis. Living with severe allergies to peanuts and nuts himself, Alex carries an EpiPen® Auto-Injector with him at all times. He invites fans to follow him all year round on Facebook and Twitter (@Tagliani), or at www.TaglianiAutosport.com

Tagliani Autosport was also sponsored by CanTorque, headquartered in Edmonton, which designs and manufactures Industrial Bolting Tools and Accessories; by CGI Group Inc., the fifth largest independent information technology and business process services firm in the world. Riobel, a manufacturer of high-performance faucets and shower systems that are both elegant and sophisticated and available throughout Canada and in a growing number of US states, and Napoleon®, North America's largest privately owned manufacturer of quality wood and gas fireplaces, outdoor living products and heating & cooling products, are also proud sponsors of Tagliani Autosport. Alex and his team can also count on the support of Fast Wheels, a Canadian alloy wheel manufacturer who offers high quality wheels for more than 40,000 vehicle models.