Toronto, Ontario, Canada. May 15, 2014
The long awaited eleven race 2014 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series season launches this weekend at The Victoria Day Speed-Fest presented by Castrol, at Canada’s most famous racing address, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park just outside of Toronto.
Anxious to return to battle in Canada’s only national stock car racing sanction, is popular Canadian IndyCar/NASCAR and SportsCar racer, race winner and Indianapolis 500 pole sitter Alex Tagliani of Montreal, and his brand new racing venture, Tagliani Autosport.
For the NCATS opener at CTMP, formerly known as Mosport Park, Tagliani Autosport’s debut puts one of the fastest-rising racing star drivers in Canada in the seat to drive the Team EpiPen/Dicom Express entry.
Edmonton Alberta native Stefan Rzadzinski takes the wheel for the season opener, as Alex Tagliani, the regular driver of The Team EpiPen/Docom Express # 18 Tagliani Autosport Dodge Challenger attempts to score his second career pole for the 98th running of The Indianapolis 500, driving The # 68 SFHR/RW Dallara/Honda IndyCar for Sarah Fisher-Hartman Racing on Armed Forces Pole Day at the fabled Brickyard.
After a very successful test at CTMP a few weeks ago, Rzadzinski can’t wait for that first green flag of the season!
“I’m very excited to kick off my first ever NASCAR race weekend with Tagliani Autosport’s debut as well. It’s an honour to be selected to drive and represent the #18 EpiPen/Dicom Express car at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park this weekend as Alex is busy qualifying for the Indianapolis 500.”
Rzadzinski started kart racing at the age of 8, winning a number of championships. He was a major prize-winner in the Skip Barber Shootout, a finalist for the Team Canada Scholarship for young drivers, a “Road to Indy” podium finisher, a two-time Ontario F-1600 Championship Runner-Up, Canadian Automobile Sports Club’s Ontario Region Rookie of the Year, and the Western Canadian Motorsports Association Driver of the Year, to name only a few of Stefan’s accomplishments.
Partnering with Alex in the new Tagliani Autosport venture is long time friend and business associate Colin Livingston, President of CanTorque Incorporated of Edmonton Alberta.
Tagliani is very confident the EpiPen/Dicom Express team is going to put on a solid show in the season opener.
“I am very excited to see the EpiPen/Dicom Express car on track! Colin will be at CTMP/Mosport for the debut. We are both very proud to be able to give Stefan a chance to see what he can do. Hopefully we can have a great opening round. It will be observing what’s happening with the team from a distance, but I will be getting regular updates at Indianapolis as we look forward to another top flight qualifying weekend at The Brickyard with the Sarah Fisher Hartman Team. I’m sure the boys on the EpiPen/Dicom Team will do the same at CTMP/Mosport!”
Tagliani’s NCATS entry is in partnership as brand ambassador with Pfizer Canada Inc., the Canadian distributor of The EpiPen® epinephrine auto-injector. Alex himself lives and races with a severe allergy to nuts, and carries the allergy awareness/Pfizer/EpiPen message across Canada through his NCATS racing program.
With the goal of getting school children actively involved with Team EpiPen, Tagliani’s “Summer of Tag” school visits coincided with the launch of his Race Car Design Contest and the second edition of the Helmet Design contest. The winning students in each contest receive tickets to a local race, while the helmet with the winning design will be auctioned off at the end of the season to raise funds for Anaphylaxis Canada.
To raise additional funds for Anaphylaxis Canada, The Tagliani Foundation is staging a Golf Classic and Gala at Celine’s Le Mirage in Montreal September 30th. For more information on the Foundation: TaglianiFoundation.org
Fans are invited to follow Alex and The Tagliani Autosport Team on Facebook and Twitter all season long: Summeroftag.com Tagliani.com TaglianiAutosport.com
The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series is the only national racing sanction/series in Canada with eleven events from Edmonton, AB to Antigonish, NS from May to September. They race on road courses, street circuits and oval tracks. For more information on the 2014 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, visit: NASCARHometracks.com
