Music: {allcanada} Tagliani gives back at home

There was a grin on Alex Tagliani's face Wednesday noon, one as radiant as the sun overhead, as he pondered the question:

"Think there might be a certain prestige for a fellow NASCAR driver this weekend to grind a tire donut on the door of the Indianapolis 500 pole-sitter?"

"I don't have a problem with that," came the enthusiastic reply. "The fenders are protecting me. We can be door-to-door, but hopefully I'm not going to have too many scratches on this nice Hot Wheels design.

"The more people give me a hard time, the more challenge and difficulty I have, the better it makes me feel. That's what makes me enjoy my time in a race car."

This is perhaps the ultimate gear shift for Tagliani, the superstar name on the marquee for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race at Mirabel's Circuit iCAR.

Last Sunday, Tagliani was leading a field of 33 cars to the start of the 100th anniversary edition of the historic Indy 500, one of the world's most famous races. Handling issues would finally end his day about 50 laps from the finish when he bent his right front axle in a brush with Turn 4.

This weekend, the 38-yearold from Lachenaie is entered in something slightly more modest than Indy - the inaugural Grand Prix iCAR is a 30-lap, 102-kilometre fenderbender around a 14-turn road course that meanders over a tarmac of what once was a passenger airport.

The NASCAR main event, scheduled for 3: 30 p.m. Sunday, follows an undercard that over two days will feature races in five other championship series.

Tagliani would have every reason not to be turning laps at Mirabel. Start with fatigue and emotional letdown. Then add corporate obligations still to be fulfilled, and attention to a personal life that's been in suspended animation for the past month.

But that list is outweighed by a single reason to be here.

"My education and my upbringing always remind me that you don't take anything for granted in this life," Tagliani said. "I appreciate what I have and the people who are supporting me, so to say no to this (weekend's race) would be the opposite of where I come from. It's a very small sacrifice to show my appreciation."

Still fresh in Tagliani's mind is the drivers' parade through downtown Indianapolis last Saturday, seeing the Canadian and Quebec flags and the patriotic hairdos crowning the boisterous, sign-waving fans who lined the route.

"Even if I'd jumped out of the car and shaken everyone's hand that day, it would have been a very small thing to do," he said. "So it's the least I can do now, giving back my time to those in Quebec and Canada who are involved in motorsport for what they do for the sport and the support they show me."

Tagliani said he did more interviews last month than he had throughout his entire racing career.

"It was absolutely insane, on the phone continuously, everywhere," he said, having dramatically captured the pole in his No. 77 Bowers & Wilkins-sponsored ride. "But that's a tribute to the attention paid the Indy 500, and that the pole-sitter is in many ways its spokesperson."

The Sam Schmidt Motorsports team left the Brickyard with its head high, despite the premature end to its race. No matter the result, winning the pole - a hugely popular accomplishment among fans and in Indy's Gasoline Alley - was the beginning of "a dream week" that stole the spotlight from the Ganassi and Penski superpower operations.

One day, Tagliani imagines, he'll put all of this in perspective.

Already, special moments stand out. Such as jokingly telling his father that, should he win the pole, his parents in Lachenaie had better pack quickly for the trip.

Tagliani made the phone call after his successful run - "I told you to get packed!" he told his folks - then found it wasn't easy getting them to Indianapolis. In the end, a friend of fellow driver Scott Dixon helped out and a private plane was sent to Montreal for the Taglianis.

There was the experience of driving the pace laps behind Indy legend A.J. Foyt, seeing the flag-waving fans in the grandstands, and earlier posing for photos with previous pole-winners "that I think took my heart rate higher than when I train on my bike.

"Being pole-sitter for the Indy 500's 100th anniversary was something that I'll never forget."

Even during race week, Tagliani was quietly negotiating with Roger Penske for a ride in Penske Racing's No. 12 Dodge in this August's NASCAR Nationwide Series NAPA 200 on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. He'll team with Jacques Villeneuve, who'll drive Penske's No. 22.

"Roger came to me and said: 'We might sign this deal only after you tell us what you have that makes your (Indy) car so fast,' " he said, laughing.

Tagliani's pace hasn't slowed since Indy. On Tuesday, he was in Calgary promoting next month's Edmonton Indy. Wednesday's news conference at Mirabel preceded Thursday's 12 hours of Montreal media stops, a weekend of practice, qualifying and racing, a sponsorship event then a quick return to Indy on Tuesday before immediately heading south to Texas for the June 10-12 IndyCar race there.

At least this weekend, he and his wife are staying with his parents, where they'll find some fine Italian cooking that's not served in a hotel or trackside motorhome.

"Bronte will spend the weekend with Mom and Dad and she loves her food," Tagliani said. "She'll enjoy this, for sure."

Less stressful for the driver will be racing a beefy stock car, contact with a competitor not the end of his day.

"In IndyCar, you observe the unwritten rule of respect that says you don't bang or touch, that you stay away from the other guy's wheels.

"But in NASCAR," Tagliani said, smiling again, "there are some things you can do. Even if I'd won the Indy 500, I'd have found a way to do this race."