Action Express confirms No. 31 line-up’s return

Action Express Racing has chosen consistency as its formula to earn next year’s DPi championship with the re-signing of Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani, and endurance driver Mike Conway, in the No. 31 Cadillac DPi-V.R.

The Brazilian duo will enter their third year as a tandem representing AXR and Whelen Engineering, and with England’s Conway being elevated from the program’s fourth driver at the Rolex 24 At Daytona to its primary long-haul pilot at IMSA’s four WeatherTech SportsCar Championship enduros, the No. 31 effort could be the only returning DPi entry without a radically altered line-up.

“We are very happy to announce that we will back in 2021 with the same full time, driver line-up as this year,” Gary Nelson, Action Express team manager, said. “We have a great core of technical and mechanical staff who communicate well with our drivers. In racing, people move around a lot, so keeping our core has been one of the keys to our success.

“Felipe and Pipo round out that core. They are both fast and complement each other on and off the track. They are committed to doing what it takes to win, and when we cannot, they maximize our points paying positions on the track. That is how we have dominated the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Championship the last few years. We will again have Mike Conway with us for the longer events. Mike is very familiar with our team and our expectations. We would like to thank Filipe Albuquerque for his contributions to the team and congratulate him on his WEC P2 Championship this season. We wish him the best in the future.”

The identity of AXR’s fourth Rolex 24 driver was not revealed, but as RACER wrote on Sunday, new NASCAR Cup champion Chase Elliott is a leading candidate to complete the No. 31’s roster.