Mid-Ohio: FAZZT Race Team race report

Lexington, Ohio (August 8, 2010) --FAZZT Race Team driver Alex Tagliani collected his best race finish of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season with a fourth place on Sunday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The Canadian driver led 30 of the 85-lap Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio event to collect a bonus point for most laps led helping to earn 34 points for the day. It is the second time this year that Tagliani has led laps in a race. Back in early June, he led 33 laps on the Texas Motor Speedway oval. Tagliani's luck turned his way this weekend when General Manager Rob Edwards called him in on lap 22 for his first stop while he was running 15th. Two laps later a full course yellow was caused when EJ Viso and Justin Wilson collided. This sent all the drivers to dive into the pits for their first stop of the race. Tagliani took over first place on lap 26 after being one of the first cars to take their initial stop.

The FAZZT Race Team's strategy played out well earning their first top five finish of the season. Dario Franchitti held off Will Power in the final laps to cross the finish line with a lead of 0.5234-second over the second-place Penske driver. Helio Castroneves finished third and 2009 Mid-Ohio winner Scott Dixon finished fifth. For Tagliani, this was his fifth top-10 finish at Mid-Ohio in five races. His previous best finish was sixth in 2003 when racing for Rockesports

Rob Edwards, FAZZT Team COO on Sunday's race

"Well, we've had our share of bad luck these last few weeks, so I guess someone was saving all the good luck for today. Full credit goes to the guys in the timing stand. It was a good race strategy coming in early and we had a huge amount of luck when the yellow came out. However, I think we showed by leading the most laps in the race and by running up front for a long while in the race after the first pit stop that we belong up front. We did have a fast car, and we were able to hold our own with Penske and Ganassi and I think on occasions this year, we've shown that we can be as competitive as anyone in the series and this was one of those days. We're very excited about the results. It's the right reward for all the guys on the team and for all the hard work they've been putting in this year. We're looking forward to Sonoma now."

Alex Tagliani, on Sunday's race

"I'm very happy with the result for the team; it was a long time coming. We have a great group of guys. Obviously, we've been struggling on the road courses but this weekend the boys did a great job on the car and it paid off. We now have a much more competitive car on the road course. I think it was a good race and it was a very good call from everybody. I think that we called it right since we had such a fast car and we were able to stay in the lead and pull out on every lap. The result is well deserved especially for the boys; they've been working hard all year. It's great for Andre, for our new sponsor CV Logistics, and for Bower & Wilkins who have been with us since the beginning of the year. I'm just so happy with today's race and for all of our guys."

The IndyCar Series is now moving on to the West Coast for Round 13 of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series race scheduled to take place the weekend of August 20-22, 2010 at Infineon Raceway in California.

-source: fazzt