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GRAND-AM
GRAND-AM: Tag’s Excellent Adventure
Tagliani relishing a hectic weekend in Montreal...
For Alex Tagliani, this weekend is shaping up to be one spectacular homecoming. (Photo: Jamey Price/LAT)
There is nothing like coming home, and for Montreal favorite Alex Tagliani, this weekend is shaping up to be one spectacular homecoming. The picturesque Circuit Gilles Villeneuve will play host to both the Rolex Sports Car Series and the NASCAR Nationwide Series on Saturday, and Tagliani will be looking to make an impression in both as he races on home soil.
Tags will open the with his GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series DP debut (SPEED, 7 PM ET), driving for the white-hot Starworks Motorsport squad. The two hour race will see Tagliani in two different cars, as he is set to start the No. 8 Ford-Riley before turning it over to Ryan Dalziel. He’ll then jump into the sister No. 2 entry that Alex Popow will start the race with before he vacates the seat to jump into a helicopter and make his way to the ALMS race in Wisconsin.
The GRAND-AM sprint race will be just the start for “Tags,” as he’ll follow up that effort by jumping into the same Turner Motorsports No. 30 Oasis/Motegi Racing Chevrolet that won the Road America round of NASCAR Nationwide Series competition at Road America in the hands of Nelson Piquet, Jr. to race in the NAPA Auto Parts 200 presented by Dodge.
No matter what he has driven this weekend, the performance has been stout. Tagliani paced the final practice in his first day of DP driving, then qualified the Ford-Riley third on the Montreal 200 grid, and then went on to score an impressive pole for the NASCAR Nationwide event.
With a runner-up result in last year’s NASCAR race, Tagliani is targeting a little bit better view from the podium this year, and was already thinking about the race before qualifying even finished.
"I feel that there was still a tenth or two left in the car,” said Tagliani after the run. “I wanted to do a third flying lap with the tire pressures and temperatures at their best, but my crew chief Trent Owens wanted me to save fuel so we have one more lap to go in our first stint in the race."
Tagliani has a long history of racing at Montreal, and his enthusiasm for the track, facility, and event is impossible to miss.
“I was with (event promoters) Octane and (Turner teammate) Justin Allgaier, and we went to City Hall and we signed the book and the mayor and the promoter was there,” enthused the 2011 Indianapolis 500 pole winner. “The media were covering the event and the mayor has put more money into this race.
"I think this race is kind of a good example of where we need to do whatever it takes to support it and to make sure we keep it for a long time because the Canadian fans are really good at putting good atmosphere in the grandstands and I think that’s why any American loves coming here.”
No matter what happens on race day, Tagliani is passionate when it comes to racing in his native Montreal.
“The city is great, the location of the track – you can’t have it more practical than that,” said Tagliani. “There’s not a lot of places where we can showcase NASCAR, Formula 1, Daytona Prototype cars for those fans so I was very pleased that everybody got together. NASCAR has been supportive of the event and hopefully we can just continue to step it up and make the event bigger and better through the next couple of years.
"That’s why I’ve been supportive and that’s why as soon as I got some time off and I knew the China race was cancelled I was on the phone and I was like ‘I want a ride I want a ride!’ Everybody wants to come and race here - that’s why the car count in NASCAR Canada is so high. Everybody wants to race here and it was great that I was able to put a deal together and race for a competitive team.”
Now all that's left for Taglaini is to go racing, and he couldn’t be happier for it.
With experience at Skip Barber Racing School, Lime Rock Park, and several IndyCar teams, Matt Cleary has covered open wheel and sports car racing for over a decade. Working for Sunday Group Management, Cleary also provides strategic motorsports consulting for a range of clients in the sport. You can follow him on Twitter @sundaygroup
Tags will open the with his GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series DP debut (SPEED, 7 PM ET), driving for the white-hot Starworks Motorsport squad. The two hour race will see Tagliani in two different cars, as he is set to start the No. 8 Ford-Riley before turning it over to Ryan Dalziel. He’ll then jump into the sister No. 2 entry that Alex Popow will start the race with before he vacates the seat to jump into a helicopter and make his way to the ALMS race in Wisconsin.
The GRAND-AM sprint race will be just the start for “Tags,” as he’ll follow up that effort by jumping into the same Turner Motorsports No. 30 Oasis/Motegi Racing Chevrolet that won the Road America round of NASCAR Nationwide Series competition at Road America in the hands of Nelson Piquet, Jr. to race in the NAPA Auto Parts 200 presented by Dodge.
No matter what he has driven this weekend, the performance has been stout. Tagliani paced the final practice in his first day of DP driving, then qualified the Ford-Riley third on the Montreal 200 grid, and then went on to score an impressive pole for the NASCAR Nationwide event.
With a runner-up result in last year’s NASCAR race, Tagliani is targeting a little bit better view from the podium this year, and was already thinking about the race before qualifying even finished.
"I feel that there was still a tenth or two left in the car,” said Tagliani after the run. “I wanted to do a third flying lap with the tire pressures and temperatures at their best, but my crew chief Trent Owens wanted me to save fuel so we have one more lap to go in our first stint in the race."
Tagliani has a long history of racing at Montreal, and his enthusiasm for the track, facility, and event is impossible to miss.
“I was with (event promoters) Octane and (Turner teammate) Justin Allgaier, and we went to City Hall and we signed the book and the mayor and the promoter was there,” enthused the 2011 Indianapolis 500 pole winner. “The media were covering the event and the mayor has put more money into this race.
"I think this race is kind of a good example of where we need to do whatever it takes to support it and to make sure we keep it for a long time because the Canadian fans are really good at putting good atmosphere in the grandstands and I think that’s why any American loves coming here.”
No matter what happens on race day, Tagliani is passionate when it comes to racing in his native Montreal.
“The city is great, the location of the track – you can’t have it more practical than that,” said Tagliani. “There’s not a lot of places where we can showcase NASCAR, Formula 1, Daytona Prototype cars for those fans so I was very pleased that everybody got together. NASCAR has been supportive of the event and hopefully we can just continue to step it up and make the event bigger and better through the next couple of years.
"That’s why I’ve been supportive and that’s why as soon as I got some time off and I knew the China race was cancelled I was on the phone and I was like ‘I want a ride I want a ride!’ Everybody wants to come and race here - that’s why the car count in NASCAR Canada is so high. Everybody wants to race here and it was great that I was able to put a deal together and race for a competitive team.”
Now all that's left for Taglaini is to go racing, and he couldn’t be happier for it.
With experience at Skip Barber Racing School, Lime Rock Park, and several IndyCar teams, Matt Cleary has covered open wheel and sports car racing for over a decade. Working for Sunday Group Management, Cleary also provides strategic motorsports consulting for a range of clients in the sport. You can follow him on Twitter @sundaygroup
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