By: Tagliani Autosport
September 5 2016
Mechanical Problems Cost Alex Tagliani a Run at the Leaders in the NASCAR Pinty's Race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park
Montreal, Quebec - Alex Tagliani encountered a mechanical problem during round 10 of 12 of the NASCAR Pinty's Series held on Sunday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP), in Ontario.
Starting from the pole, Tagliani led the first 12 laps before entering the pits for his first regular stop. Back on track in third place, he slipped to fifth overall on lap 23 when his power steering problem worsened. He then lost five laps in the pits to repairs before returning to the track on the leader's lap 33, down in 20th position. He finished six laps down in 17th.
"It's rather disappointing to experience a negative sequence near the end of the season with a dominating car that enabled us to get back into the championship hunt. A racing incident at Riverside Speedway (Nova Scotia) and a mechanical problem this weekend at Mosport (CTMP) has ended our championship hopes," said the driver of the EpiPen-CanTorque Chevrolet. "Tagliani Autosport gave me a performing car and following qualifying, we had high expectations for the race.
"Unfortunately, the power steering pump seized during the race causing the belt to rupture. The same thing happened here last year during the race. We are going to make sure to change vital parts more often. It seems that Lady Luck is not on our side lately, but we are going to keep pushing hard in order to win the final two races of the season," concluded Tagliani.
Alex's best moment of the weekend came during qualifying on Saturday when he broke the Pinty's series track record lapping the fast 3.96-km CTMP track in 1m 22.77 seconds at an average speed of 172,124 kph. It was Tag's first pole of the season, his seventh in the series. Kevin Lacroix was second ahead of Andrew Ranger and LP Dumoulin.
The Can-Am 200, a 51-lap race around the 10-turn road course, was won by Kevin Lacroix of Saint-Eustache, Quebec ahead of Louis-Philippe Dumoulin of Trois-Rivières. Rookie Cayden Lapcevich of Grimsby, Ontario, was the third man on the podium. Lacroix led the final 27 laps to score his fourth series win, his second in the last three races.
Twenty-four drivers started the race and 18 crossed the finish line, with 13 of them on the lead lap. The race was under caution twice for nine laps.
With two races remaining, Tagliani is now fifth in the Driver standings with 369 points. With his third place finish, Lapcevich increased his overall lead to 30 points (415-385) over Andrew Ranger of Roxton Pond, Quebec, who retired with engine problems.
In 43 NASCAR Canada Series starts, Tagliani has five wins, seven poles, 16 top-five and 26 top-ten finishes. He had a nice run before encountering his first mechanical problem of the year this weekend. He won three times, collected two third-place finishes, a fourth, a sixth and a ninth in nine starts. He missed the season opener at the CTMP in May to compete at the famed Indy 500.
The Can-Am 200 will be televised on TSN on Sunday, September 11 at 2:00 p.m. ET. The NASCAR Pinty's series returns to action on Saturday night September 10 at Autodrome Saint-Eustache, north of Montréal.
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