Action Express Overcomes Obstacles at ‘The Glen’; Optimistic for Montreal

Montreal, Quebec: It was a roller coaster weekend for Action Express Racing at Watkins Glen, but for all of the highs and lows, Saturday’s Canadian Tire 200 showed the resiliency and potential of a championship-caliber team. In the end, Action Express Racing’s Porsche-powered Rileys finished the weekend 6^th (No. 5) and 7^th (No. 9), closing the deficit between the two teams and the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing DP for third in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series DP standings.

The weekend was supposed to be a celebration of driver JC France’s 100^th career DP start, but Friday saw an unexpected low when driver Terry Borcheller suffered a Friday practice crash, and a fractured left wrist. The accident kept Borcheller out of competition, but the team was able to make repairs to the No. 9 DP for qualifying.

“The team did a really good job of getting the car back together for the race,” said driver Joao Barbosa, who finished the event in the No. 9 for co-driver France. “We fell back a little and with it being such fast-paced race we didn’t really get a chance to get back on the lead lap, but I really think it was a good race for us and I’m ready for Montreal.”

While the No. 9 DP had an up-and-down weekend, it was a smooth weekend and race for the No. 5 Porsche/Riley. After starting the race 5^th, driver David Donohue quickly moved through the top 5 and into the second position before losing a couple of positions trying to avoid an accident.

“The car was really good for the first stint, I just think when the sun went down the car got away from us a little bit,” admitted Donohue, who gave way to co-driver Darren Law. “We were really strong at the beginning. The team is really sharp. Today we showed well and people knew we were here.”

With just two races remaining, the No. 5 DP moved one point ahead of its team car into fourth in the series standings and is now just seven points out of third. A top 3 in points is a realistic goal for a team that is hitting its stride in the final few races of the season.

“We’re excited that we’re seeing more speed out of the cars, as you could see in the (No.) 5 car early in the race when we passed the (No.) 99 and (No.) 01 cars and were actually catching the (No.) 10. We felt that once we got the cars together later in the race, if we had a caution, we would have had a better position,” said team manager Gary Nelson. “Top teams are top teams because they overcome adversity. I see that with our group, so I’m excited. We saw speed at Watkins Glen, and Montreal is similar to there. I think the shorter the track the more we’ve struggled this year. The bigger tracks we’ve run well and Montreal is one of the biggest.”

Saturday’s upcoming race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve will be the last back-to-back race weekend of the season. That could have been a major disadvantage for Action Express had the team not had spares prepared to repair the damaged No. 9 DP following Friday’s practice crash. The team was able to get the car repaired and back to 100 percent.

“A lot of drivers like to thank the guys at the shop, and the guys at the shop were the ones that made this happen by getting spares together,” added Nelson. “We barely missed a beat with that wreck.”

One year ago at Montreal, Action Express suffered a mechanical failure and finished 10^th, but turned lap times competitive with the top 5. Donohue and Law finished fourth, just missing a podium for Brumos Racing.

“We’ve had some good runs there, we’ve finished on the podium there,” said Law “We’re seeing a lot of progress every weekend and the cars are a lot faster. It should be a good track for us.”