Action Express Racing Post-Long Beach Report

Action Express Racing continued their double march towards the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship finishing second and third in the BUBBA Burger GP on the streets of Long Beach.

After starting from pole, Christian Fittipaldi settled into the third position following a calculated move from eventual race winner Ricky Taylor in the No. 10 Chevrolet Corvette DP. Fittipaldi worked the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette DP back to the second position before turning the car over to co-defending series champion Joao Barbosa.

"In hindsight I was probably too conservative on the start," said Fittipaldi. "Hats off to Ricky as he saw the gap and he pulled off the pass perfectly. We rubbed a little bit but overall it was good, hard racing. When you can't win, you finish second and maximize your championship points, which is exactly what we were able to do today."

Eric Curran qualified the team's No. 31 Whelen Engineering Corvette DP in the fourth position and ran there through the first 20 minutes of the event. Curran made an assertive move on the No. 70 Mazda, prior to the only pit stop of the event where he turned over the red and white Whelen Engineering Corvette DP over to his co-driver Dane Cameron.

"Today was a good day for our Whelen Engineering team from Action Express Racing," said Curran. "We were able to pick up a spot from where we started and that's critical in any street course event because passing is extremely difficult, even more so here than in Detroit because of how narrow the track is. We always want to win and we expect to do it, but we'll take the podium finish and hopefully carry the momentum into the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix in two weeks."

Unofficially, the Mustang Sampling Corvette DP has moved into first place in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with 93 points, while the Whelen Engineering Corvette DP moves into second with 90.

"The points we scored today will be extremely important as we try to win a third consecutive championship," said Barbosa. "It's good to have the points lead at this stage of the season, but it will be even more important to build on it when we go to Monterey. Points are very easy to lose but extremely difficult to makeup, so we'll take the second place finish and move on to the next event."

Whelen Engineering Corvette DP driver Dane Cameron echoed the sentiment of his teammate, and is focused on returning home to Northern California for the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix.

"It was a good day for us," said Cameron. "Eric drove a solid stint in the car and was able to get us to the third position before the pit stop, and from there we were able to keep pace with the team car and at one point had a tight battle between the three Corvette DPs.

"We're in a great points position compared to a year ago when we were a new team, hats off to the guys on the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Corvette DP as they continue to get stronger with every event. We'll start focusing on Monterey as it's the next race in our championship and an important event because it is my home track."

 Action Express Racing team manager Gary Nelson noted the team's improvement from one year ago.

"We struggled last year when we were here in Long Beach," said Nelson. "Following the West Coast swing, we went back to North Carolina and made a list of what we thought our issues were and we went testing and found ways to improve those things. I think that was evident yesterday in winning the TOTAL pole award and today in the race as we put both cars on the podium. It was a great day for Chevrolet with a podium sweep.

"Long Beach has been among our worst tracks and it's always been one of the best tracks for the 10. We are very encouraged by today's result know most of the remaining tracks on the schedule have been very good to us."

The double podium is the second in a row for the team, following the second and third place finish in the Twelve Hours of Sebring, and the second consecutive on a street circuit dating back to the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic on Detroit's Belle Isle last May.