Photo Credit: Ashely McCubbin
Alex Tagliani has wheeled open-wheel cars around the Streets of Toronto for years, but this weekend was his first time around Exhibition Place in a stock-car. Tagliani utilized his skill and experience of the Toronto track when he took his second checkered flag of the season on Saturday.
For Tagliani, it was his second win of the year in the No. 18 EpiPen Chevrolet, and fourth of his career. The Toronto win also marked his second road and street course win, and first since 2008 at Edmonton City Centre Airport.
“We started in the top-three to start, and then the 06 (Daniel Morad) came in balls to the metal, and almost crashing into everybody,” Tagliani told OnPitRoad.com after the race. “I just kind of drove, and felt the way my car was. I felt where my weaknesses were, where my strengths were. I was able to improve our pace by just not really taking the tire down where my car was loose on entry.
“From that point on, it was just maintain,” he said. “There was a yellow on Lap 12 or 13. On that restart, I thought our car was going to be good to fight all the way to the front. Once we got into the lead, it was good enough to even pull a margin on Andrew (Ranger). I knew at that time we had the pace to stay up front, it was just trying to manage the run, and not run too much.”
Tagliani’s main concern during the day was to not use up his equipment too early in the 35-lap race.
“You can push, push, push on a street course, and get a good gap, and then it takes one mistake,” explained Tagliani. “You can get really loose, and you don’t just lose three tenths; you lose a full second, and then you’re get caught. It was all about trying to maintain the gap, but also not ruining your stuff too quickly.”
Early in the race, Tagliani had to contend with Andrew Ranger and Daniel Morad for the lead. Morad, a regular driver in the Porsche GT3 Cup Canada Series, was making his first series start as a last minute stand-in for Carlos de Quesada. Despite having a fast race pace, Morad’s inexperience in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series led him to racing championship contenders aggressively, and rubbing them the wrong way.
“Daniel (Morad) and I are good friends, so I told him before the race not to wreck me because we’re going for an owner’s championship here,” Tagliani said. “It got a little dicey, but we all got through.”
As the race came closer to the end, a late race caution brought the reality of a green-white-checkered. Tagliani found himself racing championship point leader Andrew Ranger for the win. The race was close at the line, but Tagliani edged Ranger’s No. 27 Mopar/Pennzoil Dodge by two tenths of a second. Ranger had opportunities on the final two laps to get into the No. 18, but never did. Tagliani said that’s a product of trust between the two of them.
“Andrew (Ranger) and I are racing each other almost every week, so I know how he’s going to race me, and he knows how I’ll race him,” he said. “I’m a big fan of people trying to make passes, and not really taking people out. We need 20 guys who are super competitive in this series, and we need these guys like Morad coming from other series. The more the series will be in demand, the more sponsors that are going to join the series, and the more likely that they will want to stay.”
