Alex Tagliani fended off numerous challenges from Andrew Ranger in the closing laps of the second NASCAR Pinty’s Series Leland Industries Twin 125 Wednesday at Sutherland Automotive Speedway to score a hard-fought victory.
Tagliani wearing silver duct tape essentially as war paint on his No. 18 Viagra / NTN Chevrolet, which was battered in the opening Twin 125 of the afternoon, kept calm despite the immense pressure from behind.
While it was Tagliani’s steady driving that secured the win, the driver from Montreal put all of the praise on his team for banding together and bringing an incredible car to Saskatoon.
“We won’t tell you all of the secrets of what is happening in the shop, but the entire team — the No. 18, the 22 and the 20 work so hard on the car,” Tagliani said with pride. “They did a tremendous job. All of the resources. A lot of creativity. A lot of help from the guys at McCall that made the trip.”
This marks the 11th-career win for Tagliani and it’s the 48-year old’s first NASCAR Pinty’s Series win of 2022.
For Ranger, it was another close call, but just like in Twin 125 No. 1 the winningest driver in NASCAR Pinty’s Series history came home in second.
Ranger was right there on Tagliani in the closing laps, but he just lacked a little drive off to be able to pull of the win.
“Yeah, exactly. Drive off,” Ranger said after the race. “We did a little change and was thinking it was enough. Unfortunately, but whatever. We finished on the podium. This is another second position for us. It’s good for the points.”
L.P. Dumoulin finished the race in third, while Raphael Lessard and Brandon Watson finished fourth and Fifth.
D.J. Kennington, who won Twin 125 No. 1, but was penalized at the start of Twin 125 No. 2, rallied to finish in sixth. Kevin Lacroix, J.P. Bergeron, Mark Dilley and Donald Theetge rounded out the top-10 finishers in the event.
Here are the complete race results for the NASCAR Pinty’s Series Leland Industrial Twin 125 No. 2:
| Pos | St | No. | Driver | Sponsor | Make | Laps | Best Lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 18 | Alex Tagliani | Viagra / St. Hubert / Qwick Wick / NTN | Chevrolet | 125 | 15.157 |
| 2 | 5 | 27 | Andrew Ranger | GM Paille Chevrolet Canada | Chevrolet | 125 | 15.182 |
| 3 | 13 | 47 | L.P. Dumoulin | WeatherTech / Bellemare | Dodge | 125 | 15.096 |
| 4 | 7 | 8 | Raphael Lessard | Transit / Easy-Kleen / Fast Eddie Speedwear | Chevrolet | 125 | 15.160 |
| 5 | 11 | 9 | Brandon Watson | GMS / Shear Metal Products / APC | Chevrolet | 125 | 15.125 |
| 6 | 2 | 17 | D.J. Kennington | Castrol Edge / Wilride / Fuel Donkey | Dodge | 125 | 15.107 |
| 7 | 4 | 74 | Kevin Lacroix | ESR / Lacroix Tuning / Paragon Auto Service | Dodge | 125 | 15.188 |
| 8 | 18 | 1 | J.P. Bergeron | Prolon / Rousseau Metals | Ford | 125 | 15.173 |
| 9 | 12 | 64 | Mark Dilley | Leland / IHL Group | Chevrolet | 125 | 15.226 |
| 10 | 1 | 80 | Donald Theetge | Groupe Theetge Inc / XPN | Chevrolet | 125 | 15.169 |
| 11 | 21 | 43 | Shantel Kalika | AGI | Dodge | 125 | 15.433 |
| 12 | 8 | 22 | Kyle Steckly | APC Auto Parts / Wing N' It Restaurants | Chevrolet | 125 | 15.230 |
| 13 | 16 | 0 | Glenn Styres | GSR / Ohsweken Speedway | Chevrolet | 124 | 15.407 |
| 14 | 23 | 28 | Matthew Shirley | Provincial Vodka / Elite Property Management | Dodge | 124 | 15.375 |
| 15 | 14 | 3 | Brett Taylor | TCB Trailers / Fast Eddie Speedwear | Chevrolet | 123 | 15.269 |
| 16 | 22 | 71 | Bryan Cathcart | OK Tire Peterborough / Fuel Donkey | Dodge | 123 | 15.314 |
| 17 | 3 | 20 | Treyton Lapcevich | FMB / RGC Sports / Qwick Wick | Chevrolet | 122 | 15.171 |
| 18 | 17 | 66 | Wallace Stacey | K Fibre Optic / Bully's Truck Stop | Chevrolet | 122 | 15.391 |
| 19 | 19 | 46 | Jamie Krzysik | Krown-Pel Ventures / BerMar Rewind | Chevrolet | 122 | 15.301 |
| 20 | 9 | 96 | Marc-Antoine Camirand | GM Paille Chevrolet Canada | Chevrolet | 61 | 15.156 |
| 21 | 6 | 59 | Gary Klutt | NewTechWood | Dodge | 54 | 15.225 |
| 22 | 15 | 92 | Dexter Stacey | Bully's Truck Stop / K Fibre Optic | Chevrolet | 35 | 15.223 |
| 23 | 20 | 2 | T.J. Rinomato | RGC Sports / Delta Bingo / Vellamo | Chevrolet | 0 | 0.000 |
Following this race, Kevin Lacroix maintained the series point lead, but he holds a slim one-point advantage over D.J. Kennington.
Here are the Point Standings following this race:
- Kevin Lacroix, 306 points
- D.J. Kennington, -1
- Marc-Antoine Camirand, -5
- L.P. Dumoulin, -8
- Andrew Ranger, -11
- Brandon Watson, -19
- Alex Tagliani, -20
- Gary Klutt, -22
- Treyten Lapcevich, -28
- J.P. Burgeron, -40
