This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(September 2025)

Alex Tagliani
Alex Tagliani at the 2015 500 Festival Parade in Indianapolis, Indiana
Nationality	Canadian
Born	(1972-10-18)October 18, 1972 (age 53) Lachenaie, Quebec, Canada
Awards	2009Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year,2011 Indianapolis 500 pole winner
IndyCar Series career
73 races run over 9 years
2016 position	31st
Best finish	13th (2010)
First race	2008Grand Prix of Long Beach (Long Beach)
Last race	2016Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Wins Podiums Poles 0 0 3
Champ Car career
131 races run over 8 years
Best finish	7th (2004,2005)
First race	2000Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami (Homestead)
Last race	2007Gran Premio Tecate (Mexico City)
First win	2004Champ Car Grand Prix of Road America (Road America)
Wins Podiums Poles 1 14 5
NASCAR driver
NASCARO'Reilly Auto Parts Series career
8 races run over 6 years
2016 position	56th
Best finish	39th (2014)
First race	2009NAPA Auto Parts 200 (Montreal)
Last race	2016Road America 180 (Road America)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 5 4
NASCARCraftsman Truck Series career
6 races run over 6 years
2020 position	65th
Best finish	56th (2019)
First race	2014Chevrolet Silverado 250 (Mosport)
Last race	2020Sunoco 159 (Daytona RC)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 3 2
NASCARCanada Series career
131 races run over 17 years
Car no., team	No. 80 (Group Theetge)
2025 position	12th
Best finish	2nd (2018)
First race	2007 NAPA Autopro 100 (Montreal)
Last race	2025WeatherTech 200 (Mosport)
First win	2008Edmonton 100 (Edmonton Airport)
Last win	2023Tiffany Gate Grand Prix of Toronto (Toronto)
Wins Top tens Poles 12 93 12
Statistics up to date as of October 23, 2025.

Alexandre Tagliani (/tæɡlɪˈɑːnɪ/; born October 18, 1972), nicknamed "Tag", is a Canadian professional racing driver. He competes part-time in theNASCAR Canada Series, driving the No. 80Chevrolet Camaro forGroupe Theetge.

Tagliani has competed in a variety of disciplines includingopen-wheel,stock car, andsports car racing. He has raced in theAtlantic Championship,Champ Car,IndyCar Series,NASCAR Pinty's Series, andNASCAR Xfinity Series.

Tagliani debuted in theAtlantic Championship in 1996 with P-1 Racing, where he finished seventh in the overall points standings. Switching toForsythe Racing, he finished third in 1997, fourth in 1998, and fourth in 1999, claiming two wins in each season.

Tagliani raced in theChamp Car series from 2000, when it was still known as CART, until its demise in 2007.^{[citation needed]} He was signed byForsythe Racing for the 2000 season replacingGreg 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.

In2001, Tagliani was involved in the collision withAlex Zanardi at theLausitzring that resulted in the loss of Zanardi's legs.

He remained at Forsythe until the end of 2002, when he was substituted byPaul Tracy. Tagliani found a job with theRocketsports 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 joinedTeam Australia, which was a rebranding ofDerrick Walker's long-running team with the support ofAustralian businessmanCraig Gore, and finished seventh in the championship despite lacking arace engineer. The seventh-place finish would equal the best of his three Top 10 championship points finishes.

He returned to Rocketsports for the2007 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 other2007 Champ Car Drivers, has stated thePanoz DP01 was "one of" the bestAmerican 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.

In 2008, after the Rocketsports team decided not to take part in theIndyCar Series, Tagliani made the transition to stock cars and began racing in theNASCAR Canadian Tire Series. He also drove forConquest Racing in theIndyCar Series Detroit Grand Prix, replacing the injuredEnrique Bernoldi. Tagliani continued in the seat for the last two races of the season.

Conquest Racing announced that Tagliani would return as a full-time driver for the2009 season.^[1] However, the team ultimately concentrated on road and street course races after theIndianapolis 500; 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-upFAZZT Race Team in theIZODIndyCar Series beginning in2010.^[2][3]

After a successful 2010 campaign with Tagliani, FAZZT Race Team was looking forward to an even more successful2011 season, along with the possible expansion on the grid with a second entry. However, the team was purchased bySam Schmidt on March 1, 2011,^[4] and was absorbed intoSam Schmidt Motorsports. Tagliani was retained, along with all sponsors, for a full-time entry during the 2011 season, racing alongside his new teammatesTownsend Bell,Wade Cunningham, andJay Howard.

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 theIndianapolis 500 is tenth, which he achieved in2010 while driving forFAZZT Race Team. His best performance was arguably the2016 event when he charged hard from 33rd starting position to lead 11 laps, matching a record set byTom Sneva in1980.

Tagliani has run selected races in theNASCARXfinity Series since 2009. That year he entered the Montreal and Phoenix rounds with Pat MacDonald. He drove at Montreal in 2011 forTeam Penske 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 forTeam Penske.^[5] AtRoad America for theGardner 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 forBrad Keselowski Racing's No. 19 in theCamping World Truck Series event atCanadian Tire Motorsport Park.^[6] 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.

In 2015, Tagliani drove one race forTeam Penske in the Xfinity Series race atMid-Ohio Sports Car Course. 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 winnerRegan Smith. Two weeks later, Tagliani drove the No. 29 truck forBrad Keselowski Racing atMosport, leading a total of 8 laps and finishing 5th after battlingErik Jones for the lead late in the race.

In 2016, Tagliani made a one-off appearance in the No. 22 for Team Penske atRoad America 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 asAustin Cindric.

Tagliani returned to the Truck Series for the 2017 Mosport race, driving the No. 02 forYoung's Motorsports.^[7]

For the2019 Chevrolet Silverado 250, he moved toKyle Busch Motorsports' No. 51 Toyota.^[8] He returned to the team in August 2020 at theDaytona International Speedway road course.^[9]

In 2007, Tagliani debuted in theNASCAR Canadian Tire Series, entering two rounds with Dave Jacombs. In 2008, he raced in 9 out of 13 races with that team, scoring a win atEdmonton 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 atSunset and two third-place finishes. In 2016, he scored three wins at Sunset,Toronto andEdmonton International Raceway, and finished third in points.

Tagliani joinedScott Steckly's22 Racing team in 2017. In 2018, he finished second in the standings behindLouis-Philippe Dumoulin.^[10] During the 2019 season, he scored a win at Toronto and was running in points untilmyocarditis forced him out of competing in theAutodrome St. Eustache round, effectively ending his championship hopes.^[11]

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 theRolex Sports Car Series. Later,Rocketsports Racing announced that it had signed Tagliani for the full 2014United SportsCar Championship season to drive anOreca FLM09.^[12]

Tagliani has severefood allergies and suffered several episodes ofanaphylaxis. He has promoted public awareness through the Food Allergy Canada and personal sponsor Pfizer.^[13]

He is also an advocate for young Go-Karting talent and theGo-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 inSainte-Thérèse, Quebec.^[14]

In 2023, he talked in depth regarding hisNASCAR Pinty's Career, and some great lifetime memories of his in downtownSaskatoon, and area, over the years. He won in Saskatoon for the first time in 2022, and at the Honda IndyToronto, at the World-FamousToronto Exhibition Grounds, as recently as 2023. He is one of the greatest assets to Canadian Motorsports and its rich history.^[15]

(key)

• ^ New points system implemented in2004

¹ Run on same day.

² Non-points-paying, exhibition race.

³ TheLas Vegas Indy 300 was abandoned afterDan Wheldon 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.

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

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

(Races inbold indicate pole position)

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

• List of Canadians in Champ Car

Wikimedia Commons has media related toAlex Tagliani.

• Official website
• Alex Tagliani driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Alex Tagliani career summary at DriverDB.com

• Living people
• 1973 births
• Sportspeople from Terrebonne, Quebec
• Indianapolis 500 drivers
• Indianapolis 500 Rookies of the Year
• Indianapolis 500 polesitters
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