By alley - Jul 25, 2014, 9:14 PM ET

IMSA: Action Express Corvette DP, Viper GTLM win big at Indy

Multiple caution periods, including a 26-minute delay needed for track repairs, wreaked havoc on fuel windows during the Brickyard Grand Prix. Once most of the Prototype frontrunners stopped for a quick splash in the final 10 minutes of the 2hr45min event, Rolex 24 winners Action Express Racing cruised to victory in the No. 5 Corvette DP with a massive gap of 48.9 seconds over the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Ford EcoBoost DP.

The Ford, with 19-year-old Sage Karam behind the wheel, led most of the race, yet with Action Express veteran Joao Barbosa saving fuel throughout his stint, AXR shot into the lead and captured their second major victory of the season by staying on track while others dove for pit lane with the checkered flag just moments away. AXR won the Rolex 24 on raw speed, but at Indy, strategy made the difference between winning and losing.

"I was saving fuel the whole time, on the lean [fuel] map, and man, these guys did a tremendous job on pit stops and fuel strategy," said Barbosa. "In the end it was kind of easy."

Spirit of Daytona's Richard Westbrook completed the podium in his No. 90 Corvette DP, followed by the points-leading No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP piloted by Jordan and Ricky Taylor. P2s qualified 1-2-3, while DPs finished 1-2-3-4. The pole-sitting No. 1 Extreme Speed Motorsports HPD ARX-03b placed fifth.

A season of frustration was wiped away for the SRT Viper GT Le Mans team at Indy as Jonathan Bomarito and Kuno Wittmer captured the manufacturer's first TUDOR United Sports Car Championship victory with the No. 93 entry. Risi Competizione led from pole and delivered its strongest performance of the season, but the No. 93 Viper was a perfect blend of fast and error free on a day when most of the GTLM contenders were involved in contact and spins.

The V10-powered coupes came close to winning at Sebring, went through an uncompetitive period, and have turned their year around in grand style at the Brickyard.

"This is amazing," said Bomarito. "I can't wait to get out there and kiss the bricks. Amazing pit stops, perfect strategy."

Patrick Long in the No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR completed the GTLM podium. His Porsche teammate Nick Tandy appeared to have a GTLM win in the offering, but an engine problem forced the Briton to retire while leading. The No. 3 Corvette C7.R driven by Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia was never in the hunt to earn its fifth consecutive victory after BoP changes reduced the car's pace, and thanks to at least one entanglement with a slower car, the Corvette duo could only manage fourth at the finish.

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Paul Gentilozzi's Rocketsports Racing team dominated the PC class at Indy as former Indy 500 polesitter Bruno Junqueira and teammate Jack Hawksworth, who drives for Bryan Herta in the Verizon IndyCar Series and made his sports car debut at the Speedway, found themselves locked in an internecine battle for PC honors.

Junqueira appeared to have the measure of Hawksworth, who led convincingly on the Indy road course in May during the Grand Prix of Indy, but the young Englishman would not be denied, snatching the lead in the final minutes to become a first-time TUDOR Championship winner on his series debut.

"Finally!" Union Jack exclaimed as he celebrated the win with co-driver Chris Cumming. "[The GP of] Indy got away from us, so to win my first sports car race... It was an awesome race."

GT Daytona generated its usual excitement as the lead changed hands multiple times during the race. The final exchange went to the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari F458 driven by Alessandro Balzan and teammate Jeff Westphal (ABOVE) which held a full lap over the second place Paul Miller Racing Audi R8 of Bryce Miller and Christopher Haase.

"Thanks to Scuderia Corsa," said Balzan, the 2013 Grand-Am Rolex GT champion. "Today the car was working really good. A perfect racing car. This is the way to go and I'm very happy for my team."

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park GTD winners Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating were competitive once again, placing third in their SRT Viper GT3-R.

P2 cars were surprisingly fast on the long straights at Indy, but with the well-known advantage held by DPs on starts and under acceleration when carving through traffic, DP entrants took their sixth win of the season compared to two for P2 teams.

GTLM kept fans guessing until late in the race, PC was possibly the most exciting class victory to be settled, and GTD was interesting until fuel windows and off-course excursions by some of the faster cars made its outcome less of a surprise.

Brains won over brawn in Prototype and GTLM, youth and enthusiasm came out on top of old age and treachery in PC, and flawless execution was the key in GTD. The Brickyard Grand Prix had a little bit of everything on Friday, and the next round at Road America will surely add more intrigue as the TUDOR Championship season begins to wind down.