Monday, September 5, 2022 by Philippe Brasseur
Alex Tagliani, of Lachenaie, Quebec, finished in sixth place this Sunday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The 51-lap event was the twelfth race of the NASCAR Pinty’s Series season. It was the penultimate meeting of 2022, before the final which will take place in three weeks as part of the Fall Brawl at Delaware Speedway, in Ontario.
The race weekend at the CTMP began on Saturday at noon, for the free practice session which Tagliani completed in tenth position. Later in the afternoon, Tag posted the seventh-fastest qualifying time, which allowed him to start Sunday inside the fourth row, in the race called the WeatherTech 200.
From the start of the race, Alex Tagliani kept the Chevrolet Camaro No.18 VIAGRA – St-Hubert in seventh place until a first neutralization occurred on the fourteenth lap. After refueling and changing tires, Tag was sixteenth on the restart and gained 4 places in one lap. The yellow flags were displayed again on lap 23 and after some of the leaders had their turn pitted, Tagliani had moved up to eighth on the restart on lap 26. For the rest of the day, Alex remained in the Top 10, even climbing to fourth place with 7 laps to go.
It was the championship leader, Marc-Antoine Camirand, who won this event. Sixth when crossing the finish line, Tagliani is only 3 points behind second place in the drivers’ championship, with only one race to go in the 2022 season.
“The team did a great job, we had a good pit stop,” explained Tag. “We managed to get to fourth place. But, unfortunately, we were running out of point speed; much of our pure performance deficit was there. It was very difficult to defend his position under his conditions. The car was quite good, but not being strong enough on the straight made us very vulnerable against our direct opponents. But we came away from this event with good points, and we were able to manage any problems,” he added.
“Now we go to the final at Delaware Speedway. I have a good feeling about this circuit, I love it, we have already finished second there. Our last oval race in Saskatoon was a win, so I think we have a good chance of finishing the season with a strong performance. The team will work hard as usual and we will end the season on a high note,” explained Tagliani.
In the drivers’ standings, Alex Tagliani slipped to fourth place following yesterday’s event, but he is only three points behind second place held by Kevin Lacroix and will therefore be aiming for the title of vice-champion. 2022 in the final. Camirand, for his part, will be assured of the title as soon as he starts the race at Delaware Speedway.