Action Express Confirms Nasr, Albuquerque for 2018

Photos: AXR/IMSA

As revealed by Sportscar365 last week, Action Express Racing has confirmed that Felipe Nasr and Filipe Albuquerque will step up to full-time drives with the team next year, replacing Dane Cameron and Christian Fittipaldi for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

Nasr, a former Sunoco Challenge winner, who spent two seasons in Formula One, will join Eric Curran in the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac DPi-V.R, while ex-Audi LMP1 ace Albuquerque, who was the No. 5 car’s driver for the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup races, swaps places with Fittipaldi, who takes up an endurance-only role. 

Joao Barbosa will continue in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac, with Toyota LMP1 factory driver Mike Conway returning to the No. 31 car for Daytona and Sebring.

“As a team, the 2017 IMSA season has been a solid one, but we are all working hard to make 2018 an even better year,” said team manager Gary Nelson.

“We are happy to have Eric return in the Whelen Engineering Cadillac and to have Felipe come back to race with us for the full season.

“We have had the same driver lineup for the Mustang Sampling Cadillac for the last two years, and that consistency will be an advantage. Christian, Filipe and Joao have all been racing with us but we are just changing the roles that each will have next year.”

Fittipaldi, meanwhile, has been named Sporting Director, with Tim Keene joining the team as Performance Coordinator and race strategist for the No. 31 car.

The changes come in the wake of Cameron departing the North Carolina-based organization for Team Penske’s new Acura DPi effort next year.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John