Top ten finish for Barracuda Racing at season opener in St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg, FL - Alex Tagliani drove a solid race on the streets of St. Petersburg to start the season with a tenth place finish on Sunday afternoon.

Alex Tagliani, Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Honda

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

Tagliani was able to move up through the field, running P13 when they made the second pit stop and remained on blacks.

An ill-timed yellow flag came out just as the No. 98 car was leaving the pits, pushing Barracuda Racing back to P19. Several unusual track incidents allowed Tagliani to advance a few spots, running as high as P9 at one point, but a solid final stint on alternate red tires landed him the tenth place finish when the checkered flag came out.

"It was good that we made the top ten today in the Barracuda Racing car because we struggled a bit this weekend," said Tagliani. "We were so strong in qualifying last year and now we're just getting used to the new tires out there so we'll see how we need to react to that.

"I know that with Todd [Malloy] and the group of guys we have, we'll find it. The team did a great job and Bryan is happy. Everybody believes that once we find that pace, we're going to be up front. This is a season where we can be very competitive and there's no reason why we can't fight for the lead."

The tenth place finish is a good start towards the team's goal of finishing the season in the top ten championship point standings.

Barracuda Racing