Action Express Racing team of Aitken, Bamber, Vesti and Zilisch Come Back from Lap Down
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 25, 2026) — The Rolex 24 At Daytona became a six-hour sprint race after overnight fog kept the race under yellow conditions for more than six-and-a-half hours.
But the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R from Action Express Racing team stormed through the fog and came from a lap down to finish second and just 1.5 seconds behind the No. 7 Penske Motorsports car.
Jack Aitken, who drove along with Earl Bamber, Frederik Vesti and Connor Zilisch, made a hard charge throughout the final hour and nearly caught the No. 7 Penske machine twice, but had to settle for a podium finish.
It’s Cadillac’s ninth podium finish in 10 Rolex 24 At Daytona races and the second consecutive runner-up finish.
The No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R sponsored by DEX for Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz and Colton Herta finished sixth.
Their teammates – Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque and Will Stevens – driving the No. 10 car suffered a mechanical issue and, combined with the time remaining in the race, retired from the event.
With the runner-up finish, Cadillac Racing now has 105 podiums (21 GTP, 84 DPi) since joining IMSA prototype competition in 2017.
The Cadillac Racing team now heads to the 74th running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 18-21 in Sebring, Florida.
Peacock (U.S.) and IMSA’s YouTube (not in the U.S.) will broadcast beginning at 10 am ET on Saturday, March 21, and NBCSN will broadcast beginning at 5 pm ET. Peacock (U.S.) and IMSA’s YouTube channel will stream the entirety of the race along with the IMSA Radio broadcast at IMSA.com, Sirius 211/XM 207.
Driver Quotes
No. 31 Cadillac Whelen
Jack Aitken: “We had to fight pretty much all the way through the race, and it was not an easy 24-Hour race. Not like some previous years where some things came our way. Couple of setbacks early on and we had to dig deep to get back on the lead lap and get through the field. There were some fantastic stints all the way through the night and the end. To fall just short is a bit heartbreaking. Hopefully this shows the strength of the Whelen Cadillac. We were able to take the challenge to them today and it’s a testament to the boys and girls that got the car on the grid today. Big thanks to them and to Cadillac as a whole. We’re going to keep flighting and get that win someday.”
Earl Bamber: “We had a good car and a good team and we knew Porsche was going to be strong at the start of the race and they were going to be our main contender. So yeah, I think it was going to be between the 7, the 6 and ourselves. We came up short by 1.5 seconds, but I think it was an amazing team effort by everyone on Cadillac and Whelen. We had quite a few setbacks and issues in the night and we just kept digging and digging and came home second. Obviously it’s not what we wanted, but we will finish second and take the points.”
Frederik Vesti: “It’s one of the first times in my life I’ve been extremely disappointed with a second-place finish. That just says so much about our potential this weekend. But to finish second in a race where we were a lap down, we had few minor issues throughout the race so to finish second is a very big result. Obviously finishing second by 1.5 seconds from P1 is extremely frustrating, but it’s a great start to the season. We can all be proud of everyone on the team and the efforts this weekend. And we’ll come back a do better.”
Connor Zilisch: “Yeah, it was a great day. Jack (Aitken) did everything he could there at the end to try and get us the win, but just came up a little bit short. I am so proud of the effort of everyone with Cadillac and Action Express Racing. I had a lot of fun being a part of it and getting to learn from all those guys, my teammates, so yeah just thankful for the opportunity and happy it went well. Second always sucks, but we did everything we could, and we have to be proud of that.”
No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing
Louis Deletraz: “Well, we made it to the end and congratulations to the 31 for the second place and to Cadillac. We made it to the end and no mistakes by the drivers and no mistakes from the team. I think sometime after midnight something broke at the back of the car, to be confirmed, but we lost a lot of pace out of it. I think we were quite good on deg (degradation), but then again when its losing pace, we just didn’t have it. We had good strategy on fuel and its good points on the championship. Looking forward to more and can’t wait to get to Sebring already.”
Colton Herta: “Hard fight to the end for us in the 40 car. Was not the race that we wanted, but good points for the full-time guys. We never gave up and tried our hardest, so proud of that and definitely some stuff to look at and get better on for Sebring. Looking forward to that one.”
Jordan Taylor: “Yeah, obviously not a great day for the whole team and for us. I think we salvaged sixth place there at the end with a good call on fuel strategy, but overall, disappointed because a couple of times I thought we were in the mix for the race. So, just hopefully we can go to Sebring with a little more pace and win there.”
No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing
Filipe Albuquerque: “What a shame, it’s a long race but for me a very short race because of the fog (overnight), but we still got to P3 and Ricky was looking very very strong. I think we could have battle for something and the pace is better from Wayne Taylor Racing.”
Will Stevens: “A disappointing result, but there are some positives to take away from the week. At times during the race, we had the pace to be up in the standings, but it’s disappointing, not to be at the end to fight for something. I think we made good steps over the winter, and we’ll take some time to digest it and move on to Sebring.”
Ricky Taylor: “What a shame. I feel bad because on that last stint, the last thing I did was make a mistake in turn six, but I think we had a really good Cadillac. We were the only ones on new tires and were making some progress and something went wrong. Really unfortunate but I am very proud of the team and the guys and coming here with a second year with Cadillac and I think we were finally doing justice to what the Cadillac GTP can do, so it’s encouraging for the remainder of the year.”
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