Alex Tagliani to be inducted into Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame - MotorSportsTalk

Alex Tagliani began his racing career in his native Canada, and after more than 30 years behind countless steering wheels around the world, will be honored on Oct. 17 with induction into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame.

Tagliani will be one of five inductees into the Canadian Hall. The others are seven-time stock car champion Don Thomson Jr., car builder Ralph Luciw, Riverside (Nova Scotia) Speedway founder John Chisholm and Sir Jackie Stewart (International Category).

“(It’s) definitely an honor,” Tagliani told IndyCar.com of the honor. He then added playfully, “(I) need to get my wedding suit out of the closet for that one.”

A native of Montreal, Tagliani has been one of the most noteworthy Canadian drivers in a variety of motorsport series.

Among the more notable accomplishments in his career including being named the 2009 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year and the first Canadian to ever start on the pole in the 2011 edition of the Greatest Spectacle In Racing.

Tagliani has made 203 IndyCar starts in his career. He’s also made 39 starts in NASCAR, including 32 in the Canadian Tire Series.

Even though he missed the season-opening race, Tagliani is currently ranked seventh in the CTS, including lapping the field en route to a win in June at Sunset Speedway in Innisfil, Ontario.

In addition, the 43-year-old Tagliani has four top-five and three other top-10 finishes in those seven CTS starts.

He’s finished 13th and 17th in the last two Indianapolis 500s, as well, the only IndyCar starts he’s made in 2014 and 2015.

This Saturday, Tagliani will drive a Ford Mustang for Team Penske in his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start of 2015 at Mid-Ohio.

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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”