Chevrolet dominated in its hometown, powering the top two finishers in the Grand Am Rolex Chevrolet Grand Am Detroit 200. A Chevy Corvette won the GT class as well. When ccidents eliminated some of the top contenders in both classes, other teams stepped and made the race exciting.
Joao Barbosa and Terry Borcheller took the win in the #9 Action Express Coyote-Corvette, with teammates Darren Law and David Donahue right behind in the #5 Coyote Corvette-Action Express
Action Express switched its driver lineup for the race—David Donahue and Darren Law were split up after 108 races together (the pair had been teammates at Brumos Racing before Action Express ever formed.) Apparently this was a move long overdue, as it led to the first one-two finish in the team’s history.
The new lineup seemed to create fierce inter-team competition. Barbosa bumped his teammate a bit squeezing by when Donahue was slightly balked by the ESM Ferrari. Donahue wasn’t pleased, but no damage was done, and the team still took the top two steps of the podium.
Barbosa’s drive was all the more impressive because he came from well back in the pack to take the win.
The drama started when co-driver terry Borcheller earned a drive-through penalty for colliding with the TRG Porsche driven by Steve Bertheau on lap nine. Borcheller made up some of the time; the rest of the gap was erased with good pit work during the first full-course caution on lap
Barbosa had fought back to second place when more pit stop confusion set him back. The Action Express driver had just passed pit-in when the signal was given that the pits were open following the crash of Joe Nonnemaker in the #43 Sahlen Mazda on lap 35. This cost the Action Express driver six places, as he had to lap the track while his competitors pitted.
Some of his competitors—a miscommunication by Grand Am officials led to the Gainsco Riley-Corvette pitting then leaving, thinking pits were not yet open. The #99 Gainsco car had to pit with the GTs, losing three places.
Barbosa and Gurney both left the pits hungry for revenge—revenge made easier when Ricky Taylor in the #10 SunTrust Dallara-Corvette inexplicably slammed the pit wall while exiting the pits under yellow. The SunTrust car had been leading the race, looking for its third win in a row. This uncharacteristic error cost the team its win streak and its place in the standings.
With SunTrust out of the way, David Donahue in the #5 Action Express car took the lead when racing resumed. Barbosa exploded forward when the green flag waved, going from eighth to third in four laps.
