ACTION EXPRESS RACING WINS AND FINISHES SECOND IN THE CONTINENTAL TIRE ROAD RACE SHOWCASE AT ROAD AMERICA

ELKHART LAKE, WI (August 9, 2015) – Action Express Racing claimed the team’s second ever one-two finish as Dane Cameron and João Barbosa crossed the finish line first and second in Sunday’s Continental Tire Road Race Showcase.

With the 2015 IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship on the line, the four Action Express Racing drivers pushed their Chevrolet Corvette Daytona Prototypes to the limit, racing wheel-to-wheel enroute to the victory and second place finishes. When the checkered flag fell, it was Dane Cameron in his No. 31 Whelen/Team Fox Corvette DP scoring the second win of the season, the third victory of 2015 for the North Carolina based team.

“The Action Express Racing guys stepped up big time today,” said Cameron. “Our pit stops were flawless and that proved to be critical as passing was extremely difficult. I have to thank every person on the team, not just the Whelen team guys, but the guys who prepare the Mustang Sampling Corvette DP as well. This is a tremendous team to be a part of and the future is extremely bright.”

For Cameron’s co-driver Eric Curran, the second victory was just as sweet as the first, it also moved the duo to within two points of the championship lead with two races remaining.

“Today was a total team effort,” said Curran. “The team really made the difference in the pits. I don’t think we passed anyone on track, but we made up spots in the pits thanks to all the dedication. The driver change, re-fueling, and tire changes, were perfect and our car was crazy fast.

“I’m happy we were able to score a second victory for Sonny Whelen and everyone at Whelen Engineering. They’ve been tremendous supporters of motorsports for so long and it’s an honor to drive this red and white No. 31.”

For João Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi the second place finish moved them to within a single point of the championship lead.

“Obviously we wanted to win but if you have to finish second it’s good to be to your teammates,” said Fittipaldi. “Hat’s off to our team for preparing two phenomenal cars this weekend and it’s going to be a very exciting final two races. Our Mustang Sampling Chevrolet Corvette DP was very good, and we expect that it will be very good in the final two events of the season.”

With the second place finish, reigning series champion João Barbosa knows the championship is once again well within reach for his team.

“You never want to finish second but today was a great points day in our championship fight,” said Barbosa. “The Mustang Sampling guys gave us a good car and we were able to close the gap to one point in the standings. We’ve faced our share of adversity this season and it was great to have an afternoon where both cars were able to achieve the top steps of the podium.”

In addition to the second place finish, Fittipaldi and Barbosa once again extended their streak of consecutive lead lap finishes to 19. The duo continued adding mileage to their astounding streak, now totaling 12,422 miles with 3,870 total laps of competition.

With the victory, Dane Cameron became the winningest driver in the TUDOR United SportsCar era, notching his seventh victory in the last two seasons. With two races remaining, Cameron will look to continue adding to the total as he and Eric Curran have found themselves amidst a three-way Corvette battle at the top of the prototype standings.

“We’ve been working all year to score a one-two finish and it feels great to know that our teams have both celebrated equally. When we talk about two cars, one team today was a perfect example. The No. 5 crew was just as happy for the No. 31 guys and that was great to see. You see people talk about that type of mentality but you don’t always see it in practice.

“With the incident between Dane and Christian, we discussed it with the drivers after the race. Our only team order is not to take each other out. There was nothing intentional between either driver, and they both talked about it and we’re ready to move forward.”

While some in the sport may have questioned the decision for Action Express Racing moving to a two-car team after a championship sweep in 2014, team owner Bob Johnson knew his team was up to the test.

“Last season was a great year for our team,” said Johnson. “We knew the only way that 2015 could be better would be to put two cars in the fight and try to claim all the championships and finish first and second in the season standings.

“We’ve had a few races that the sweep slipped away from us this season, but today our guys executed flawlessly. The drivers did their jobs and the crew guys delivered perfect pit stops all afternoon. It takes a team to do what we did, and we feel like we’ve got the best team in the series. It’s an honor for us to take Sonny Whelen and Ken and Brenda Thompson to Victory Lane and you can bet that we want to do it two more times before the end of the season.”

As the championship fight moves to Austin and the Circuit of the Americas, the two Action Express Racing Chevrolet Corvette DPs have closed the gap and will look to parlay the one-two finish into a one-two sweep in the championship standings.