News

THE RACE

Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (2.258-mile road course, Lexington, OH)
Saturday, August 16, 2:45 pm ET
    
THE CAR

The No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang
Driven by Alex Tagliani    

THE NEWS AND NOTES

The No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang    

· RETURNING TO THE 22: Alex Tagliani will return to the seat of the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang this weekend at Mid-Ohio.   After a merry-go-round of Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, Tagliani will make his second road course start with the No. 22 team since his dramatic second place finish at Road America.

· DEFENDING RACE WINNERS: Last year at Mid-Ohio, the 22 team captured the race victory with AJ Allmendinger. Team Penske looks to defend their title at the track with accomplished road racer, Alex Tagliani, who qualified the No. 22 Ford on the pole at Road America and finished second after running out of fuel and restarting from the 23rd position with two laps to go. If anyone can return the Discount Tire team to victory lane at Mid-Ohio, it’s Tagliani.

· IMPRESSIVE STATS: Tagliani has seven starts at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course between the CART Series and the IndyCar Series.  In his seven starts at Mid-Ohio, Tagliani has completed over 1,366 miles, led 30 laps and scored seven top-10 finishes.

· HONORARY CREW MEMBER:  Blaine Snodgrass will be the Discount Tire team’s honorary crew member at Mid-Ohio as part of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 Patient Champion Program. Snodgrass helped influence the design of the deck lid on the No. 22 Ford Mustang based on a few of his favorite things. Blaine will attend the race along with nine other Patient Champions. Blaine will experience a behind the scenes tour, walk across the driver introductions stage with Tagliani and have the opportunity to cheer for the team from the Team Penske Discount Tire pit box during the race.
    

THE Q & A

ALEX TAGLIANI, NO. 22 DISCOUNT TIRE FORD

YOU ARE BACK BEHIND THE WHEEL OF THE NO. 22 MUSTANG FOR TEAM PENSKE, WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED SINCE RACING AT ROAD AMERICA?

“Since racing Road America, I have learned a race is not over until it is over, and you see the checkered flag. Looking at the white flag from turn 14 and where we were was a bit of a shock and disappointment. I felt with the strength of our car we deserved to take the win. Nevertheless, the team did a great job, and we had a great recovery, finishing in second place but will go get them this weekend at Mid-Ohio.”

HOW ARE YOU GOING TO USE YOUR PAST CART AND INDYCAR EXPERIENCE AT MID-OHIO IN THIS RACE?

“Mid-Ohio is a nice track. It is narrow but has a lot of flow. Hopefully knowing the track from the other series that I have raced there will help me to get back into the pace of a Nationwide car as soon as I can. When running a limited schedule in a car, you always feel at the end of the weekend that you could have always done a better job, gotten one more spot, or gone faster. Hopefully by the time I get to Mid-Ohio, I will be able to extract everything I can, get in a good, solid run and return the Discount Tire Ford Mustang to victory lane where the team belongs.”