By: Tagliani Autosport
August 28 2016
After Starting from the Pole, Alex Tagliani Roars Back from 29th to 7th at the Road America 180 NASCAR XFINITY Race
Montreal, Quebec -Alex Tagliani finished seventh in Round 23 of the NASCAR XFINITY Series held Saturday at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Driving the #22 Discount Tires Ford Mustang, the Canadian driver started his weekend on a great note winning his fourth NASCAR XFINITY Series pole on Friday, his third pole for Team Penske in five starts.
From the start of the 45-lap Road America 180 Fired Up by Johnsonville race, Tagliani led the 41-car field from the pole and stayed up front for 17 of the first 24 laps before going deep into corner 5 of the 4.05-mile 14-turn road course allowing eventual race winner Michael McDowell to move into first place for the first time.
Following a yellow caution pit stop, Tagliani quickly retook the lead from McDowell on lap 28. Again, Tagliani went deep into corner 6 and this time he was clipped by McDowell when he got back in line in front of the American driver. Forced to change tires after the encounter, Tagliani dropped to 29th overall before engineering the charge in the second half of the race that enabled him to finish seventh, 5.582 seconds behind the winner.
"I am really disappointed, especially after reviewing the incident several times on the monitor," Tagliani said. "While watching it, I learned that McDowell had mentioned to his spotter that if he had the chance, he would take me out. When I got back in the middle of the track after going wide in Turn 6, I exposed the left rear end of my car, and he did not miss the occasion, accelerating as he pushed me off the track. His explanations following the race made no sense whatsoever.
"I would have loved to give Team Penske its first win of the season with car 22, but we had a small problem during the race. I guess this was not to be my weekend. Maybe I should play differently and be more aggressive or play a different game staying behind my main opponent rather than be ahead of him. That way, I could better control the outcome of my race. Overall, it was still a good weekend," concluded Tagliani.
Following the incident, Tagliani ran a seesaw race, moving from 29th to 13th in six laps around the long 4-mile track, then up to sixth on lap 39. Following another wild restart on lap 43, Tagliani dropped to 16th when mid-pack racers started to play bumper cars. The sixth and final caution on lap 45 compelled NASCAR officials to go to overtime with a three-lap attempt where the Canadian driver forced his way to a seventh place finish.
Tagliani Returns To The Pinty's Series Next Weekend
Tagliani returns to his regular Chevrolet EpiPen Riobel drive in the NASCAR Pinty's series the weekend of September 4 for the Can-Am 200 at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) in Ontario. Tag is also entered in the two Canadian Touring Car Championship races driving the Grand Touring Class Fast Wheels Ford Mustang Boss 302. Last year at CTMP, Tagliani won both GT class races. Earlier this year, the Quebec driver swept the CTCC field twice at the Grand Prix of Trois-Rivières, including the cars of the much powerful Super GT class.
In 42 NASCAR Canada Series starts, Tagliani has five wins, two poles and 16 top five finishes. This year, he has a series high three wins, two third-place finishes, a fourth, a sixth and ninth in eight starts. He missed the season opener at the CTMP in May to compete at the famed Indy 500.
With three races to go, Tagliani is third in the Driver standings with 341 points. Rookie Cayden Lapcevich is first with 373 points, 12 ahead of Andrew Ranger from Roxton Pond, Quebec. Tagliani Autosport principal Colin Livingston leads the Owner Standings by one point ahead of Team Sherri Lapcevich (374-373).