Alexandre Tagliani (; born October 18, 1973), nicknamed "Tag", is a Canadian professional racing driver. He competes part-time in the

NASCAR Canada Series The NASCAR Canada Series (NCS, ) is a national NASCAR racing series in Canada, and is a continuation of the old CASCAR Super Series which was founded in 1981. It is the top NASCAR touring series in Canada. History In September 2006 NASCAR purchas ...

, driving the No. 80

Chevrolet Camaro The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro sha ...

for

Dumoulin Compétition Louis-Philippe "L. P." Dumoulin (born February 21, 1979) is a Canadian stock car racing driver. He currently races in the NASCAR Canada Series, driving the No. 47 Dodge owned by Marc-André Bergeron. He won the series championship in 2014, 2018 ...

. Tagliani has competed in a variety of disciplines including

open-wheel An open-wheel car is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have their wheels below the body or inside fend ...

stock car Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses. It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It originated in the southe ...

, and

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing that uses sports cars with two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be either purpose-built Sports prototype, sports prototypes, which are the highest level in sports car racing; or grand to ...

. He has raced in the

Atlantic Championship The Atlantic Championship Series is an American open-wheel racing series with races throughout North America. It has previously been called Champ Car Atlantics, Toyota Atlantics (after its then engine supplier for sponsorship reasons), or just ...

Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., a Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing T ...

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, officially known as the NTT IndyCar Series for sponsorship reasons, is the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies sinc ...

NASCAR Pinty's Series The NASCAR Canada Series (NCS, ) is a national NASCAR racing series in Canada, and is a continuation of the old CASCAR Super Series which was founded in 1981. It is the top NASCAR touring series in Canada. History In September 2006 NASCAR purchas ...

, and

NASCAR Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level NASCAR Cup Series, Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a Undercard, support ...

Racing career

Atlantic Championship

Tagliani debuted in the

in 1996 with P-1 Racing, where he finished seventh in the overall points standings. Switching to

Forsythe Racing Forsythe Championship Racing was an American racing team that competed in the Champ Car, Champ Car World Series owned by Gerald Forsythe. The Champ Car effort ceased operations after the 2008 unification of North American open wheel racing. The ...

, he finished third in 1997, fourth in 1998, and fourth in 1999, claiming two wins in each season.

Champ Car

Tagliani raced in the

series from 2000, when it was still known as CART, until its demise in 2007. He was signed by

for the 2000 season replacing Greg Moore. He came close to obtaining his first victory in his third start, after taking pole position at Brazil and leading most of the race, but spun out from the lead with nine laps to go. In

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, Tagliani was involved in the collision with

Alex Zanardi Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi (; born 23 October 1966) is an Italian professional racing driver and paracyclist. He won the CART championship in 1997 and 1998, and took 15 wins in the series. He also raced in Formula One from 1991 to 1994 and again ...

at the

Lausitzring The Lausitzring (formally known as the Dekra Lausitzring for ownership reasons) is a race track located near Klettwitz (a civil parish of Schipkau, Oberspreewald-Lausitz district) in the state of Brandenburg in northeast Germany, near the bord ...

that resulted in the loss of Zanardi's legs. He remained at Forsythe until the end of 2002, when he was substituted by

Paul Tracy Paul Anthony Tracy (born December 17, 1968) is a Canadian professional auto racing driver who participated in Champ Car World Series, the IndyCar Series, and the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). He started kart racing at age five and quick ...

. Tagliani found a job with the Rocketsports team in 2003, and remained there for the 2004 season, in which he earned his first and only Champ Car victory at Road America. In 2005, Tagliani joined Team Australia, which was a rebranding of Derrick Walker's long-running team with the support of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n businessman Craig Gore, and finished seventh in the championship despite lacking a

race engineer A race engineer is a motorsport team member who analyses data to achieve the best performance from the vehicle and driver. The race engineer communicates with the team's data analyst, mechanics, and driver, both between and during races. Off the ...

. The seventh-place finish would equal the best of his three Top 10 championship points finishes. He returned to Rocketsports for the 2007 season, and finished 10th in points with a best finish of fourth in the first race of the season. He earned four pole positions during his Champ Car career. Alex, along with many other 2007 Champ Car Drivers, has stated the

Panoz DP01 The Panoz DP01 is an open-wheel race car that was produced by Élan Motorsport Technologies at Braselton, Georgia, United States. It was developed for use in the 2007 Champ Car World Series season, replacing the aging de facto-spec Lola chassis ...

was "one of" the best American Open Wheel Racers he ever drove during his career. This is among the collection of open-wheel cars he drove from the 1990s to modern day, and continues to do so, with less frequency into the 2020s. In the mid 2010s his career began a focus on "Stock Car Racing" rather than a large frequency of open-wheel.

IndyCar

In 2008, after the Rocketsports team decided not to take part in the

, Tagliani made the transition to stock cars and began racing in the

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series The NASCAR Canada Series (NCS, ) is a national NASCAR racing series in Canada, and is a continuation of the old CASCAR Super Series which was founded in 1981. It is the top NASCAR touring series in Canada. History In September 2006 NASCAR purchas ...

. He also drove for

Conquest Racing Conquest Racing is an auto racing team based in Indianapolis, United States that currently competes in the Ferrari Challenge North America as well as the GTD Pro and GTD classes of the IMSA SportsCar Championship. They previously competed in ...

in the

Detroit Grand Prix, replacing the injured

Enrique Bernoldi Enrique Antônio Langue e Silvério de Bernoldi (; born 19 October 1978) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who raced for the Arrows Formula One team in 2001 and 2002, and was the test driver for British American Racing (later Honda) be ...

. Tagliani continued in the seat for the last two races of the season. Alex-tagliani indianapolis-500-pole-winner 05-27-2011

Conquest Racing announced that Tagliani would return as a full-time driver for the 2009 season. However, the team ultimately concentrated on road and street course races after the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

; ninth place in Toronto proved his best result. Tagliani left Conquest Racing after the 2009 Rexall Edmonton Indy race in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was announced on August 28, 2009, that Tagliani had signed a four-year deal with an option for a fifth year to drive for start-up

FAZZT Race Team FAZZT Race Team was an auto racing team started by Montreal entrepreneur Andre Azzi, race car driver Alex Tagliani, and former Kelley Racing co-owner Jim Freudenberg (thus Freudenberg, Azzi, Tagliani). Team history The team's history can be tr ...

in the

IZOD The Izod Corporation (officially stylized as IZOD; ) is an American midrange clothing company that produces dressy-casual clothing, sportswear for men, and footwear and accessories. It is a division of Authentic Brands Group, and is current ...

beginning in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. After a successful 2010 campaign with Tagliani, FAZZT Race Team was looking forward to an even more successful

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

season, along with the possible expansion on the grid with a second entry. However, the team was purchased by

Sam Schmidt Samuel Schmidt (born August 15, 1964) is a former IndyCar, Indy Racing League driver and NTT IndyCar Series and Indy Lights series team owner. Schmidt's brief IndyCar career included a win in 1999, but an accident before the 2000 season left him ...

on March 1, 2011, and was absorbed into

Sam Schmidt Motorsports The IndyCar Series operation of McLaren, competing as Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team due to sponsorship, is based in Indianapolis and was founded by former IndyCar driver Sam Schmidt in 2001 as Sam Schmidt Motorsports (SSM). The team operates the N ...

. Tagliani was retained, along with all sponsors, for a full-time entry during the 2011 season, racing alongside his new teammates

Townsend Bell Townsend Lorenz Bell (born April 19, 1975) is an American professional motor racing driver competing in the International Motor Sports Association, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and also as a motorsports commentator for FOX Sports’ I ...

, Wade Cunningham, and

Jay Howard Jay Howard (born 16 February 1981) is a British professional race car driver who competed in the IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500 and resides in Indianapolis, Indiana. Howard was the 2005 US Formula Ford Zetec champion (now known as the U ...

In 2011, for the 100th anniversary of the first running of the Indianapolis 500, Tagliani qualified on the pole position with a four-lap average of 227.472 mph, besting Scott Dixon in the last run of the day. Unfortunately for Tagliani, he would run wide in turn 4 on lap 147 and make contact with the outside wall, inflicting damage upon the car which would force him to retire from the race the following lap. To date, Tagliani's best finish in the

is tenth, which he achieved in

while driving for

. His best performance was arguably the 2016 event when he charged hard from 33rd starting position to lead 11 laps, matching a record set by

Tom Sneva Thomas Edsol Sneva (born June 1, 1948) is an American former race car driver who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1983. He primarily raced in Indy cars, and was named to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2005. A former math teacher and juni ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

NASCAR Xfinity and Truck Series

22 Alex Tagliani pan NASCAR Nationwide 2014 Gardner Denver 200 at Road America

Tagliani has run selected races in the

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

since 2009. That year he entered the Montreal and Phoenix rounds with Pat MacDonald. He drove at Montreal in 2011 for

Team Penske Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Day ...

and 2012 for Steve Turner. He did not enter any race in 2013. In 2014, Tagliani announced that he would drive in two races in the series for

. At

Road America Road America is a motorsport Road racing, road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the IndyCar Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship, Sports Car Club ...

for the Gardner Denver 200, Tagliani won the pole position driving Penske's No. 22. Tagliani nearly won his first NNS race leading the second half. However, it was questionable with 10 laps to go if Tagliani had enough fuel. A caution came out before the final lap and just as the yellow period began, Tagliani ran out of gas in the extended race and stalled at the start/finish line. Tagliani switched to dry (slick) tires with most of the field on wet tires (on a drying track); he restarted in 23rd place and recovered for second place. At Mid-Ohio he finished fifth without leading any lap. Later in 2014, Tagliani was announced as the driver for

Brad Keselowski Racing Brad Keselowski Racing was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Started in 2007, it was owned and operated by NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series champion Brad Keselowski. The te ...

's No. 19 in the

Camping World Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock cars. The series i ...

event at

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly Mosport Park and Mosport International Raceway) is a multi-Race track, track motorsport venue located north of Bowmanville in Clarington, Ontario, Canada, approximately 75 kilometers (47 miles) east of To ...

. Despite the race being his very first Truck Series start, he earned the pole position and led the first seven laps. However, he would finish the race in sixteenth. 18 Alex Tagliani b

In 2015, Tagliani drove one race for

in the Xfinity Series race at

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. It hosts a number of racing series such as IndyCar, IMSA WeatherTech Sportsc ...

. He earned the pole and was in contention for the victory, losing the lead in the second-to-final corner of the race after being hit by eventual winner Regan Smith. Two weeks later, Tagliani drove the No. 29 truck for

Mosport Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly Mosport Park and Mosport International Raceway) is a multi- track motorsport venue located north of Bowmanville in Clarington, Ontario, Canada, approximately 75 kilometers (47 miles) east of Toronto. The ...

, leading a total of 8 laps and finishing 5th after battling

Erik Jones Erik Benjamin Jones (born May 30, 1996) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE for Legacy Motor Club. His nicknames are EJ, his initials, and Th ...

for the lead late in the race. In 2016, Tagliani made a one-off appearance in the No. 22 for Team Penske at

in the Xfinity Series, and earned the pole for the race. He would lead 17 laps and score a seventh-place finish. Tagliani would part ways with Penske at year's end, to make way for other Penske drivers such as

Austin Cindric Austin Louis Cindric (born September 2, 1998) is an American professional auto racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 2 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Team Penske. Prior to competing in stock cars, Cindric ra ...

. Tagliani returned to the Truck Series for the 2017 Mosport race, driving the No. 02 for

Young's Motorsports Young's Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and the ARCA Menards Series. In the Xfinity Series, they field the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth gene ...

. For the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 250, he moved to

Kyle Busch Motorsports Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) is an American professional dirt racing team that competes in dirt divisions across the United States. They formerly competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, CARS Tour, CRA Super Series, A ...

' No. 51 Toyota. He returned to the team in August 2020 at the

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, about north of Orlando, Florida, Orlando. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race ...

road course.

NASCAR Pinty's Series

In 2007, Tagliani debuted in the

, entering two rounds with Dave Jacombs. In 2008, he raced in 9 out of 13 races with that team, scoring a win at Edmonton Airport. Tagliani competed at two NASCAR Canada Series races in 2009, two in 2013 and one in 2013. He scored four pole positions, but his best finishes were fifth. The driver returned as a full-time driver in 2014 with his own team. Again, his best results were fifth, and ended ninth in the overall standings. In 2015, he joined Colin Livingston's team, where he claimed his second win at

Sunset Sunset (or sundown) is the disappearance of the Sun at the end of the Sun path, below the horizon of the Earth (or any other astronomical object in the Solar System) due to its Earth's rotation, rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth, it ...

and two third-place finishes. In 2016, he scored three wins at Sunset,

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and

Edmonton International Raceway Edmonton International Raceway is a , paved oval track racing, oval auto racing facility, located outside Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada, approximately south of Edmonton. The track is the first in Alberta to be sanctioned by NASCAR, and hosts rac ...

, and finished third in points. Tagliani joined

Scott Steckly Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Saska ...

's 22 Racing team in 2017. In 2018, he finished second in the standings behind

Louis-Philippe Dumoulin Louis-Philippe "L. P." Dumoulin (born February 21, 1979) is a Canadian stock car racing driver. He currently races in the NASCAR Canada Series, driving the No. 47 Dodge owned by Marc-André Bergeron. He won the series championship in 2014 NASCAR ...

. During the 2019 season, he scored a win at Toronto and was running in points until

myocarditis Myocarditis is inflammation of the cardiac muscle. Myocarditis can progress to inflammatory cardiomyopathy when there is associated ventricular remodeling and cardiac dysfunction due to chronic inflammation. Symptoms can include shortness of bre ...

forced him out of competing in the Autodrome St. Eustache round, effectively ending his championship hopes.

Sports cars

Tagliani has competed in sports cars since the mid-2000s. He finished 59th in GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series GT class points in 2007, with a best finish of 13th at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City. In 2013, he drove driving a Ferrari GRAND-AM GT in the

Rolex Sports Car Series The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...

. Later,

Rocketsports Racing Rocketsports Racing was a motor racing team based in East Lansing, Michigan in the United States. Team history Rocketsports was founded in 1985 by racing driver Paul Gentilozzi to compete in the Trans-Am series. It competed in Trans-Am until 200 ...

announced that it had signed Tagliani for the full 2014

United SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association ( ...

season to drive an

Oreca FLM09 The Le Mans Prototype Challenge (shortened to LMP Challenge or LMPC) was a spec sports prototype formula created by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), organisers of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and sports car constructor Oreca. The formula is inte ...

Personal life

Tagliani has severe

food allergies A food allergy is an abnormal immune response to food. The symptoms of the allergic reaction may range from mild to severe. They may include itchiness, swelling of the tongue, vomiting, diarrhea, hives, trouble breathing, or low blood pressu ...

and suffered several episodes of

anaphylaxis Anaphylaxis (Greek: 'up' + 'guarding') is a serious, potentially fatal allergic reaction and medical emergency that is rapid in onset and requires immediate medical attention regardless of the use of emergency medication on site. It typicall ...

. He has promoted public awareness through the Food Allergy Canada and personal sponsor Pfizer. He is also an advocate for young Go-Karting talent and the Go-Karting hobby across the world, from Briggs to Shifters to KZ. This is seen in some of his businesses and initiatives, such as
Tag E-Karting and Amusement
located in

Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec Sainte-Thérèse () is an off-island suburb northwest of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada, in the Thérèse-De Blainville Regional County Municipality. The town is mostly known as a home for heavy industry, but it is also a centre o ...

. In 2023, he talked in depth regarding his NASCAR Pinty's Career, and some great lifetime memories of his in downtown

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

, and area, over the years. He won in Saskatoon for the first time in 2022, and at the Honda Indy

, at the World-Famous Toronto Exhibition Grounds, as recently as 2023. He is one of the greatest assets to Canadian Motorsports and its rich history.

Motorsports career results

Career summary

American open-wheel racing results

( key)

CART/Champ Car

* ^ New points system implemented in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

IndyCar Series

: ''¹ Run on same day.'' : ''² Non-points-paying, exhibition race.'' : ''³ The Las Vegas Indy 300 was abandoned after

Dan Wheldon Daniel Clive Wheldon (22 June 1978 – 16 October 2011) was a British motor racing driver who won the 2005 IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship for Andretti Autosport, Andretti Green Racing (AGR). He won the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 Indianapol ...

died from injuries sustained in a 15-car crash on lap 11.'' : ** Podium (Non-win) indicates 2nd or 3rd place finishes. : *** Top 10s (Non-podium) indicates 4th through 10th place finishes.

Indianapolis 500

Alex Tagliani Pit Challenge - Carb Day 2015 - Sarah Stierch

NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Xfinity Series

Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series

Pinty's Series

Season still in progress
Ineligible for series points

Touring/sports car racing

(Races in bold indicate pole position)

V8 Supercar results

+ International driver, not eligible for points in 2010 format. Points listed is team points for driver Jason Bargwanna in the two races where Tagliani was co-driver for the #11 Kelly Racing Holden.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tagliani, Alex Living people 1973 births Sportspeople from Terrebonne, Quebec Indianapolis 500 drivers Indianapolis 500 Rookies of the Year Indianapolis 500 polesitters IndyCar Series drivers Champ Car drivers Atlantic Championship drivers NASCAR drivers Supercars Championship drivers Rolex Sports Car Series drivers IndyCar Series team owners Canadian sportspeople of Italian descent Francophone Quebec people Racing drivers from Montreal 24 Hours of Daytona drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Team Penske drivers Sarah Fisher Racing drivers A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers Kyle Busch Motorsports drivers Conquest Racing drivers Walker Racing drivers Arrow McLaren SP drivers Bryan Herta Autosport drivers Rocketsports Racing drivers Forsythe Racing drivers RuSPORT drivers Starworks Motorsport drivers Kelly Racing drivers 24H Series drivers Canadian racing drivers Craft-Bamboo Racing drivers GT World Challenge America drivers