By: Tagliani Autosport
July 29 2016
Montreal, Quebec - Alex Tagliani was on the second and final leg of the NASCAR Pinty's Western Canada Tour in Saskatoon where he finished fourth at the Velocity Prairie Thunder 250 held Wednesday night at the one third-mile paved oval Wyant Group Raceway in Saskatchewan.
Starting third, Tagliani had a good run in the early stages of the race, but was taken down hard by the number 3 car of Jason Hathaway on lap 75. The incident at the entrance of Turn 1 damaged Tag's and DJ Kennington's cars, but it was the EpiPen driver who had to eventually pit for a tire change during a full course caution on lap 98. The Laval, Quebec driver returned to the track at the rear of the field, and following the race break on lap 125, he continued to move up the field.
While fighting for fourth at the restart on lap 200, Tag and LP Dumoulin came into contact, but continued on with Tag eventually moving into second place on lap 221. At the end of the race, Alex Labbé came barging in, bumping Tagliani's driver side door to take third place away from him.
"I may sound like a broken record, but I am very satisfied with the way the team prepares the number 18 Chevrolet EpiPen/ Riobel/ CanTorque/ Complexe JCP Juste du Pin. Tagliani Autosport is in the right mode at the moment. I can't complain with three wins, a third, fourth and sixth place finishes so far in six starts," Tagliani said. "We are third overall even though we missed the season opener. I must keep on pushing for the best results if I want to win the driver championship.
"On a negative note, I did not like Jason Hathaway's reaction following the race when I asked him why he ran me down hard during the race. His response: 'I've got nothing to lose'. A pitiful reply in my mind from a driver who seems to show a lack of respect for his fellow drivers while on track. Moving on, it was a hard fought race, but I was able to bring the car back in one piece, well almost. There are only five races left, and I am aiming for the driver's title," concluded Tagliani.
Rookie Cayden Lapcevich of Grimsby, Ontario won Round 7 of the NASCAR Pinty's Series. The 16-year old scored his maiden victory in his 13th start to become the youngest winner in series history, surpassing by more than three years the 2007 mark set by J. R. Fitzpatrick. Louis-Philippe Dumoulin of Trois-Rivières finished second only seven-tenths behind the winner. Alex Labbé, Tagliani and points leader Andrew Ranger of Roxton Pond, Quebec round up the top five.
Nineteen drivers started the race and 17 crossed the finish line, with eleven on the lead lap. The race was under caution eight times for 59 laps.
In 40 NASCAR Canada Series starts, Tagliani has five wins, six poles and 15 top five finishes.
Following Round 7, Tagliani is still third in the Driver standings with 263 points. Andrew Ranger is the championship leader with 289 points, but the gap has been reduced to only one point over race winner Cayden Lapcevich. Tagliani Autosport owner Colin Livingston still leads the Owner Standings with 296 points, seven ahead of Team Doug Kennington.
The Velocity Prairie Thunder 250 will be televised on TSN on Saturday, August 6 at 4:30 p.m. ET. The NASCAR Pinty's Series takes an 18-day break before returning to action on August 14 on the street course of the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières for the Can-Am 50 Tours.
About EpiPen®_
EpiPen® and EpiPen® Jr Auto-Injectors are indicated for the emergency treatment of anaphylactic reactions in patients at increased risk for anaphylaxis, including individuals with a history of anaphylactic reactions. The EpiPen® Auto-Injector is a disposable, pre-filled automatic injection device that administers epinephrine in the event of a severe allergic reaction. After using EpiPen®, you should seek immediate medical attention or go to the emergency room. For more information about EpiPen®, please visit www.epipen.ca or you can follow us on Facebook (facebook.com/EpiPenCanada) and YouTube (youtube.com/c/EpiPenCanada).
About Riobel
Created in the Montreal suburb of Saint-Jérôme, Riobel faucets and shower systems are recognized for their design and their quality and are distributed across Canada as well as in a number of U.S. states by a vast network. Riobel has been a benchmark of excellence since 1995!