Action Express Racing is intensifying its preparations for a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, according to team manager Gary Nelson, who believes taking a deliberate year away from the event could prove advantageous.
The factory Cadillac LMDh squad, which earned an automatic invitation to next year’s French endurance classic after clinching this season’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP title, has been quietly assembling its Le Mans strategy in the background, Nelson indicated.
“We’ve kept a modest thread of activity aimed at Le Mans,” he told Sportscar365. “We went there this year to ensure we remained current.”
“We dispatched our crew to the Circuit of the Americas to verify their readiness. Jack and Earl are competing in the WEC, and on their return they filled us in on how things are run there.”
“We’re on top of it.”
The squad, which began Le Mans campaigns in three consecutive years from 2023 to 2025, chose to skip this year’s edition to devote its full attention to the WeatherTech Championship.
“I actually asked for the year off,” Nelson admitted. “We went to Le Mans three years in a row and came back with really nothing.”
“In those three years, IMSA was essentially our weakest stretch.”
“I’d prefer to focus on IMSA in 2026 and then circle back to Le Mans in 2027, so we can start thinking about Le Mans in stages, building toward it while maintaining our IMSA concentration.”
“What happens when you’re heading to Le Mans is that most of the preparation occurs early, around March, because the shipping container has to depart soon after Sebring.”
“Now that our container is organized, and everything is lined up, we’ll press ahead with additional work during the off-season.”
“I believe we’ve been able to advance Le Mans prep without taking our attention away from IMSA this year.”
Nelson added that personnel have been dedicated to Le Mans preparation so as not to disrupt the WeatherTech Championship schedule.
“At the start of this year, nearly all of our people were about 90 percent focused on IMSA, with the rest dealing with other distractions,” he said.
“As the year progressed… we’ve got a couple of individuals who have shifted almost entirely to Le Mans now.”
“We’ve adopted a more measured approach than in the past, when the default was, ‘Oh, another race in France—let’s go!’”
“There’s a lot of paperwork involved just to secure entry, arrange shipping, prepare the bill of lading, and translate between French and English.”
“We’ve made plenty of those mistakes in earlier years. This year we’ve brought in a racing-focused interpreter who really understands the terminology.”
“I think we’ve learned a great deal and we’re looking forward to it.”
Nelson wouldn’t comment on the final driver lineup, noting that Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber will be unavailable due to their full-season FIA World Endurance Championship program with Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA.
However, AXR’s current full-time driver Frederik Vesti is all but certain to be behind the wheel.
“We’ll announce our driver lineup when the time comes,” he remarked.
