Burt Battles in Return to Action Express at Watkins Glen
June 6, 2011 Leave a comment
Burt Battles in Return to Action Express at Watkins Glen
Watkins Glen, N.Y. (6 June 2011) – Burt Frisselle rejoined Action Express Racing for the Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International and overcame numerous obstacles to score a top-five result with co-drivers David Donohue and Darren Law. The race was the second start of the season with Action Express for Frisselle, having raced the Porsche-powered Riley in the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Moments before the drop of the green flag, the skies opened up and made for treacherous conditions throughout the opening laps of the race. The No. 5 was forced to make an early unscheduled green flag pit stop when the windshield began to fog, causing significant visibility issues for Donohue. However, the team rallied back to move the Daytona Prototype forward and lead the race prior to the first driver change.
Frisselle strapped into the No. 5 Action Express machine for the team’s second stint and faced slippery conditions as the track began to dry and the team made the switch over to slick tires. Frisselle put the car into the second position and ran at a phenomenal pace to hold off the third and fourth place cars that were close behind and putting unrelenting pressure on the Colorado driver for an intense 15 laps around the 3.4-mile circuit. Looking to bring the team the best possible result in his guest driving appearance, the Colorado racer would only relinquish second place as he made a pit stop just before a full course caution.
Having pitted just prior to the caution, Frisselle cycled to the front and led the field to the green. With everyone on fresh tires, he would settle into the third position at the start and again defend against a pack of Daytona Prototypes for another 21 laps before handing the car back over to Donohue.
“The car was quite strong, and I was having a very good race with the Ganassi guys—I raced against both drivers through my stint so it was pretty interesting to see where they were strong and where the Action Express car was good. I didn’t want to give anything up out there.”
Despite a broken header, the early visibility issues, and a dense fight through traffic late in the race, the team brought the No. 5 home fifth as the AE team continued to show strong championship form despite the setbacks.
“I was excited to be with Action Express this weekend, they are a very good group and I think they will continue to be more and more competitive as the season goes on,” said Frisselle. “Of course, next time out, I’ll be racing AGAINST these guys when I’m back in the GAMMA88 machine with AIM Autosport!”
The fifth place finish marks Frisselle’s third top-five result of the season as he looks for another strong performance when he heads to Road America in three weeks with AIM Autosport.
“I’m very happy to have GAMMA88 on board for three more races and I’m pumped to be heading to Elkhart Lake for the next one”, said Frisselle. “I’ve raced there in formula cars, and for us to get the chance to race at that track in the DP is pretty awesome. It is also a great chance for some of the real race fans that call Road America their home track a chance to see GRAND-AM in person, and I think that they are going to love it.”
The GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car series returns to race action at Road America June 23-25 for Round 7 of the championship.
Matt Cleary
Sunday Group Management
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Based in Indianapolis, Sunday Group Management is a leading motorsports management and communications consulting firm.
Sunday Group Management works with clients in a variety of motorsports categories, including NASCAR Sprint Cup driver AJ Allmendinger, Riley Technologies, GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series organization Michael Shank Racing, Continental Tire, and several teams and drivers in Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge competition.
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