Action Express Poised to Scale Back to Single-Car Entry in 2020

Photo: Peter Burke/IMSA

Action Express Racing appears set to scale back to a single-car DPi operation in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next year, with the team announcing on Monday that it will “most likely” return with only its Whelen Engineering-sponsored Cadillac DPi-V.R.

Pipo Derani and Felipe Nasr were confirmed last month as full-season drivers for the No. 31 Cadillac DPi, with its endurance lineup set to be finalized in “the coming weeks” according to the team’s release.

The development leaves both Filipe Albuquerque and Joao Barbosa, who shared driving duties of the team’s No. 5 Mustang Sampling entry, without full-time rides.

It’s understood a sponsorship extension with Mustang Sampling, a natural gas sample conditioning system company, was not reached for the 2020 season.

The North Carolina-based squad has been a two-car operation since its formation in 2011.

“Beginning in 2020, it is likely that Action Express will become a single car team,” said team owner Bob Johnson. “We have worked for many months to find ways to remain a two-car team.

“To be fair to all involved, we must report that the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac will probably be the single entry as managed by Action Express Racing in 2020.

“We want to thank all of our fans and every one of our great drivers, partners and crew members that have supported our two-car team along the way.”

The likely scaled-back entry comes at the cost of another DPi entry for 2020, with CORE autosport having announced it will not return with its Nissan DPi.

Discussions, however, continue on the possibility of a customer Mazda RT24-P, potentially going to Spirit of Daytona Racing, which could provide a boost to the grid.

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