SEBRING, Fla. - Scott Pruett is one of the greatest sports car drivers of his generation, so when he speaks volumes about a team’s setup and engineering, it is worth taking extra note.
Pruett, who this week shifts to Action Express Racing’s No. 31 Whelen Engineering/Team Fox Corvette DP he’ll share with Dane Cameron and Eric Curran, said that the Action Express setup at Sebring International Raceway is unlike any other car he’s driven at this track.
“These guys killed it last year,” said Pruett, who raced for Chip Ganassi Racing last year and finished fourth co-driving with Joey Hand and Scott Dixon in a Riley-Ford.
“There are certain setups that teams develop that match a track really well.
“What they’ve developed here, is a rock star here. I’ve never driven a car this good here, ever.
“It’s just, you can drive it anywhere. It goes fast. Like yesterday I ddi my fastest lap with 25 laps on the tires and we were P1. It was magic.”
With Dane Cameron leading Friday morning’s fourth practice session - the last for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship before qualifying for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida - it means Action Express has completed a four-session sweep at the top of the timesheets.
Pruett, who raced the team’s No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette DP at the Rolex 24 at Daytona with Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and Filipe Albuquerque, is on standby for the No. 5 car this week.
Barbosa sustained a wrist injury in a rare, random hoverboard accident but is all good to go this week with his family on site.
“I’m on standby there,” Pruett said. “With Joao having hurt his wrist, because I drove the car at Daytona, I can get in and out of the car if needed. It’s more we wait and see how’s the wrist, and how is he feeling.
“I’ll be on standby if need be, but primarily in the 31.”
The No. 5 car won this race last year courtesy of storming drives from Barbosa, Fittipaldi and Sebastien Bourdais.
This is Pruett’s last scheduled start with Action Express before the F Performance Racing program debuts later this year, likely at Detroit, with the new Lexus RC F GT3 he’ll share with Sage Karam in the GT Daytona class.
Pruett said testing should intensify on that program in April.
Also of note for Action Express this weekend is a newly announced partnership with SONIC Tools.
“When we made the decision to enter IMSA at the end of 2015, we knew we were going to have the opportunity to partner with some of the best race teams in the world. We believe that Action Express Racing has certainly demonstrated that over the past couple of seasons and we’re excited that they’ll be using our tools in their pursuit for a third championship”, said SONIC Tools’ Chief Marketing Officer, Colby McConnell.