Tagliani zips to Chevy Silverado 250 pole

Alex Tagliani set a new track record at Mosport Saturday to secure the pole for Sunday’s Chevy Silverado 250.

Tagliani is making his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut this weekend in the No. 19 truck for Brad Keselowski Racing (BKR).  The Canadian driver already has two Nationwide Series (NNS) starts under his belt this season for Penske Racing, by coming home second at Road America and fifth at Mid-Ohio in the No. 22 car.

The same fast time couldn’t be said for his BKR teammate Ryan Blaney.  The 20-year-old driver just missed the cut by slotting into the 14th position in the first round of qualifying and will start from there in Sunday’s race.

Another team making the final round was the No. 20 NTS Motorsports team.  Rookie Gray Gaulding is behind the wheel and will start next to Tagliani Sunday.  Gaulding has shown speed all weekend and will look to score his first career win.

Last year’s race at Mosport resulted in a first-time winner with Chase Elliott, who had a late-race duel with Ty Dillon.  Both drivers are now competing full-time in NNS.

Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Erik Jones continues to impress by posting the third fastest time in the No. 51 truck.  The team is looking for a good run after narrowly missing victories with Kyle Busch at Michigan and Bristol the last two weeks.  A familiar face starts next to Jones in German Quiroga.  The two tangled at Gateway in June, but will look to once again battle for the victory.  Quiroga is still looking for his first Truck Series win, and Mosport could be the place where it happens.

Three rookies were in the top five with Cole Custer in the fifth position.  Gaulding and Custer both ran the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East events at Watkins Glen and Virginia International Raceway last month to gain some more road course experience.

Points leader Johnny Sauter qualified in the 11th position, while teammate Matt Crafton was three spots better in eighth.  They both sit first and second in the points standings.

Canadian driver Andrew Ranger has been a frequent competitor in multiple NASCAR series in 2014.  Ranger runs the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series full-time and has accrued two wins this season.  He also ran the K&N East race at Watkins Glen earlier this month and finished runner-up to Scott Heckert. The No. 53 Dodge was fastest in final practice and could be a threat Sunday.

Another Canadian, who is making his debut this weekend, is Cameron Hayley.  The current K&N East competitor is driving the No. 32 Turner Scott Motorsports (TSM) Chevrolet and posted the 10th fastest time in the final round.  The future of the TSM truck program was in doubt earlier this weekend, but both Hayley and Ben Kennedy will run at Mosport this weekend.

The pole for Tagliani is his third in NASCAR, with the other two coming in NNS.  The No. 19 truck won last week’s race at Bristol with Brad Keselowski, who finally won his first career race in the series.

The green flag for the Chevy Silverado 250 will drop around 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday and TV coverage will be on FOX Sports 1.

Kyle Magda