Action Express Out Front at Halfway Mark in 6H Glen

Photo: John Dagys

Action Express Racing leads at the halfway mark of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.

Clever pit strategy has seen the No. 5 Corvette DP of Joao Barbosa lead ahead of the sister No. 9 entry of Brian Frisselle at the crucial points-scoring mark of the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup.

The No. 90 Spirt of Daytona Corvette DP, which has led the majority of the race thus far, runs third in the hands of Richard Westbrook, with the Ho-Pin Tung-driven No. 42 OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan completing the top-four overall and in the Prototype class.

SDR’s Michael Valiante led early and was locked in an intense battle with the pole-sitting No. 42 OAK entry of Alex Brundle. The two cars collided but sustained minimal damage with no penalty handed out.

The race-leading AXR machine has rebounded from a penalty in the opening hour after not starting its nominated driver, Joao Barbosa.

Both of the contending Extreme Speed Motorsports HPD ARX-03b cars have hit trouble.

Contact between Scott Sharp and the No. 33 Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper GT3-R resulted in an unscheduled stop for the No. 1 car, while Johannes van Overbeek ground to a halt on track in the third hour with ECU issues.

Van Overbeek’s stoppage brought put the second full-course caution of the race, the first coming from an accident by the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Riley-Ford of Memo Rojas, who made contact with the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche in the final turn.

Heavy rear-end damage was sustained to the Ford EcoBoost-powered Prototype, which resulted in lengthy repairs in the garage. It has since returned to action but runs 39th overall.

The GTLM class, meanwhile, has been an all-Corvette Racing affair, with the No. 3 Corvette C7.R of Jan Magnussen ahead of the sister No. 4 entry of Oliver Gavin in second.

The two SRT Motorsports Dodge Viper GTS-Rs run third and fourth, following a penalty for the class championship leading, and pole-sitting No. 55 BMW Z4 GTE of Bill Auberlen.

There’s also been trouble for the No. 62 Risi Competizone Ferrari, which has battled alternator issues.

RSR Racing’s Chris Cumming holds point in Prototype Challenge, while GT Daytona is led by the No. 94 Turner Motorsport BMW Z4 GT3 of Markus Palttala.

Points in the Patron Endurance Cup have been awarded at the three-hour mark, with the same number of points on tap for the end of the race.

STANDINGS: Patron Endurance Cup

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