AXR Taking “Positives” From Sixth Place After Warmup Crash

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Action Express Racing has taken “positives” away from Sunday’s sixth place finish in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round at Road America after rebounding from a crash in warmup that initially jeopardized its participation in the race.

The pole-sitting No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R sustained extensive rear-end damage after Alexander Sims lost control of the GTP class contender on cold tires and made heavy impact with the barriers in Turn 13 in the 20-minute session on Sunday morning.

The accident, happening less than two hours prior to the start of the race, put the Gary Nelson-led crew into a race against the clock to get the Whelen Engineering-sponsored car rebuilt in time for the two-hour and 40-minute race.

The team took delivery of the car at 8:22 a.m. CDT from the recovery truck, with repairs including replacing the rear transmission/suspension assembly, undertray, rear wing assembly and other bodywork as well as the hybrid unit, completed by 9:42 a.m. ahead of the 10:10 a.m. race start.

“It was a great effort by the entire team, including Pipo [Derani] handing off wrenches and being fully engaged, to get the car on the grid for the warmup laps and take the green flag with no mechanical issues,” said Nelson.

“The crew worked systematically and, as always, professionally.

“We are appreciative of the crew of the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R checking if we needed any parts or assistance. Cadillac Racing works as one team.”

While having started from the rear of the GTP field due to missing the recon laps, Pipo Derani made steady progress in the car before handing over to Sims, who encountered a spin in the second hour that led to a further setback, before the Brazilian got back in the car for the closing stint.

“The real credit today goes to the team that got us back out,” said Sims. “They were faced with massive difficult conditions after my mistake in warmup, so they really got us the points today.

“The race was unfortunately not much better than the start of warmup. It seemed like we really struggled for pace.

“I was hoping Pipo might have good pace on a new set of tires, but he didn’t seem to be able to pull up.

“I had only two tires and double stinted right-side tires and it was really tough.

“It’s the way it goes in IMSA. We got the best points we could get under the circumstances, and we’ll go on to the next one.”

Derani and Sims lost the GTP points lead to Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport’s Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque, who finished third on Sunday.

The No. 31 duo now trail the Acura pairing by 14 points heading into the penultimate round of the season next month at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“We take the positives from what the crew and team did to get the car into the race after what happened in warmup to Alex on cold tires,” said Derani.

“Just to have gone into the race to score some points is great. Obviously, difficult situation with the tires being too cold in warmup and getting Alex off-guard. We’ve being seeing that happen a lot this year.

“It was us today and could be someone else tomorrow.

“We leave here without the lead in the championship, but it’s one of those things that are out of your control. But the positive is we finished the race and scored points in the championship.”

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