Tagliani says it’s ’50-50′ he’ll have full-time ride

Alex Tagliani

With the IndyCar season just weeks away, Canada's best hope for a full-time driver on the open-wheel circuit is finding big-bucks sponsorship elusive and the future a toss up.

"It's 50-50 at the moment," Alex Tagliani said from Las Vegas when asked if he'll be racing in all 17 IndyCar events for Conquest Racing this summer, including races at Toronto and Edmonton.

"We've been working really hard on sponsorship. It's just trying to put everything together."

The 36-year-old from Lachenaie, Que., says he has rounded up a couple of sponsors in his home province, but still lacks a major advertiser to reach the $2 million to $3 million needed to at least get his ride secured for the first two races.

"Two million would get us out there, for sure," he said. "The best thing would be to have three.

"But if we have two, we're out there and we can go race."

IndyCar launches its season April 5 with the Honda Grand Prix at St. Petersburg, Fla. The teams race July 12 in Toronto and July 26 in Edmonton.

Tagliani is gunning to be the second driver, with Brazilian Jaime Camara, on Eric Bachelart's Conquest Racing team. Canadian Press