Fittipaldi, Barbosa Take Prototype Points Lead To Austin
The two-hour, 45-minute race can be seen live on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 2 and in a two-hour telecast in front of a FOX network television audience on Sunday (start times to vary by market).
Back-to-back victories in the most recent TUDOR Championship rounds at Indianapolis and Road America – coupled with a season-opening triumph in the Rolex 24 At Daytona – gives the pair a healthy 16-point lead in the standings. However, four teams are still in position to strike should the drivers of the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP stumble in either the Lone Star Le Mans or the season-ending Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda at Road Atlanta on Saturday, Oct. 4.
The Action Express drivers have six podium finishes, along with eight top-five finishes in nine races to tally 285 points. Their worst outing of the season was at Detroit Belle Isle, where they finished sixth.
"Heading to Austin we're just planning on doing the same thing we've done at every race this year," Barbosa said. "We take one race at a time and right now we're just focusing on a positive result at Circuit of The Americas. Everyone at Action Express Racing is so focused and committed to performing the best. The preparation for this season started after the last race of 2013. Now, the team goes 100-percent prepared to every race."
Brothers Ricky and Jordan Taylor are second in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP with 269 points, two points ahead of No. 90 VisitFlorida.com Corvette DP drivers Richard Westbrook and Michael Valiante with 267 points.
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park winner Gustavo Yacaman is fourth with 253 points. He will have a new car for Circuit of The Americas, with OAK Racing replacing its No. 42 Morgan/Nissan with a Ligier/Honda that Yacaman will share with Alex Brundle.
Veteran Scott Pruett won the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida and Grand Prix of Long Beach early in the season in the No. 01 Telcel Ford EcoBoost/Riley co-driven by Memo Rojas and Marino Franchitti, but five finishes outside the top five resulted in a tally of 250 points, 35 behind the leaders.
In the race for the Prototype Manufacturers Championship, Chevrolet leads Ford by a count of 301-282. Nissan is third with 269 points.
Braun, Bennett In Position To Clinch Prototype Challenge Crown
Texan Colin Braun and Jon Bennett can wrap up the TUDOR Championship Prototype Challenge (PC) title with a second-place finish in the Lone Star Le Mans. The pair has won four races so far this season in the No. 54 CORE autosport ORECA FLM09, including a sweep of the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup races to date at Daytona, Sebring and Watkins Glen, to open up a 40-point lead over Starworks Motorsport driver Renger van der Zande, 255-215. Van der Zande and co-driver Mirco Schultis have two victories in the No. 8 Martini ORECA FLM09.
Martin Fuentes, driver of the No. 7 Starworks Motorsport Under Armour/Bomberg ORECA FLM09, is third in the PC driver standings with 210 points, followed by David Ostella in the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports entry with 196 points. Gunnar Jeannette and Frankie Montecalvo round out the top five in the No. 52 Camp Boggy Creek/Bayshore Family of Companies ORECA FLM09 with 195 points.
The battle for the PC team championship could go down to the wire. CORE autosport currently holds a 14-point lead over 8Star Motorsports, 255-241. The 8Star team picked up its first victory of the season last month at Virginia International Raceway with drivers Sean Rayhall and Luiz Diaz in the No. 25 Takis/Speedsters ORECA FLM09.