Alex Tagliani will look to win his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut from the pole position tomorrow at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
The open-wheel veteran broke a new track record with a final-round lap of 109.889 mph in the No. 19 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford F-150 to claim pole for the Chevrolet Silverado 250 (1:30 p.m. ET, check local listings).
And with Tagliani’s superb road racing abilities, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Canadian at least contend for victory on the 2.45-mile, 10-turn circuit in Bowmanville, Ontario.
He will be joined on the front row by NTS Motorsports driver and K&N Pro Series East regular Gray Gaulding, who’s making his sixth Truck Series start of the year. Gaulding posted a fast lap of 109.301 mph in the No. 20 Chevy Silverado.
Another Truck Series part-timer, Erik Jones, will start on the inside of Row 2 for Kyle Busch Motorsports (109.269 mph). On the outside will be Red Horse Racing’s German Quiroga (109.212 mph), who led one of the two practice sessions earlier today.
Cole Custer and the other leader from today’s practice sessions, Andrew Ranger, make up Row 3. Darrell Wallace Jr. and Matt Crafton follow them in Row 4, and Row 5 features Timothy Peters and Cameron Hayley.
Truck Series points leader Johnny Sauter will start 11th, on the inside of Row 6.
Three riders remain locked in a tight battle with 17 points separating the leader Cooper Webb from third-place Chase Sexton and these are only a few Supercross numbers to consider entering Seattle.Chase Sexton made a statement in Detroit with his second win of 2023. – Feld Motor Sports
Webb and Tomac won the last four championships with two apiece in alternating years, but they were not one another’s primary rival for most of those seasons. On the average, however, the past four years show an incredible similarity with average points earned of 21.0 for Webb and 21.3 for Tomac. With five wins so far this season, Tomac (23 wins) leads Webb (19) in victories but Webb (43) edges Tomac (41) in podium finishes during this span.
Tomac has won two of the last three Seattle races and those two wins in this stadium are topped only by James Stewart. Fittingly, if Tomac gets a third win this week, he will tie Stewart for second on the all-time wins’ list. Tomac tied Ricky Carmichael for third with 48 wins at Oakland and took sole possession of that spot with his Daytona win.
Sexton still has a lot to say and after winning last week in Detroit, he is speaking up. The Supercross numbers are against him entering Seattle, however, because a points’ deficit this large after Round 10 has been erased only once. In 1983 David Bailey was 47 points behind Bob Hannah, and like Sexton he was also in third place. Bailey took the points’ lead with one race remaining.
The seven points Sexton was penalized last week for jumping in a red cross flag section in Detroit could prove extremely costly.
In fact, it has been a series of mistakes that has cost Sexton the most. In the last two weeks, he lost 10 points with a 10th-place finish to go with his penalty. Erase those, and all three riders hold their fate in their hands.
Plessinger’s heartbreak in Detroit is still fresh, but the upside of his run is that was his best of the season and could turn his fortunes around. Prior to that race, he led only seven laps in three mains. He was up front for 20 laps in Detroit with five of those being the fastest on the track.
Last week’s win by Hunter Lawrence tied him with his brother Jett Lawrence for 17th on the all-time wins’ list. With the focus shifting to 250 West for the next two rounds, Jett has a great opportunity to pull back ahead. The real test will be at the first East / West Showdown in East Rutherford, New Jersey on April 22.
Last Five Seattle Winners
450s 2022: Eli Tomac
2019: Marvin Musquin
2018: Eli Tomac
2017: Marvin Musquin
2014: Ryan Villopoto
