Alex Tagliani to Drive in Final Two Races of the Season for Conquest Racing

Conquest Racing announced today that Alex Tagliani will be returning to the cockpit of the Conquest Racing machine as a replacement for the injured Enrique Bernoldi for this weekend’s upcoming race at Chicagoland Speedway. In addition, Conquest has elected to sign Tagliani for the final event of the season at Surfers Paradise due to his vast experience at the Gold Coast street circuit.

While Bernoldi was hoping to be back behind the wheel of the Conquest car for this weekend’s PEAK Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300, the ligaments in his left hand, injured at Sonoma two weeks ago, are not healing properly and rest seems to be the best medication.

"Unfortunately Enrique’s injury is not healing as fast as we thought and would’ve liked, and with Alex doing such a great job last weekend it was an easy decision to keep him in the car for Joliet," explained Conquest team owner Eric Bachelart.

"We also elected to keep Alex for Australia since he has so much experience at that track. We’ve been looking for strong results all year and we saw what he was able to do in Detroit. Bringing Alex to a track he knows at Surfers and with more time behind the wheel, I think we will be able to fight for a win and end the season on a high note."

Tagliani, the 35 year-old driver from Lachenaie, Quebec who now resides in Las Vegas, has 29 oval starts under his belt from when he was racing in the Champ Car World Series.

However, this will be Tagliani’s first start at Chicagoland Speedway. His best oval performances include three pole positions (Milwaukee 2003, Fontana 2001 and Rio de Janeiro 2000), one second place finish in Japan in 2002 and a third place at Fontana in 2001. It will also be his first oval start since 2005.

"I’m honored that Conquest has called on me again this weekend to drive for them," expressed Tagliani. "It was such a satisfying feeling to be working with such a professional group of guys last weekend. We came in at the last minute and made so much progress in so little time.

We had a top five car on race day and that is proof just how good these guys are. As for this weekend, it’s been a while since I have done ovals but I’m not worried about getting back into it. Once again I want to help the team as much as possible. I can’t wait."

Tagliani and teammate Camara will be on track Saturday, September 6 at 10:15 a.m. eastern time for a first practice session. The PEAK Anitfreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300 takes place Sunday at 3:30 p.m. eastern time and will be broadcast live on ABC.  

- Karina Redmond-