Together with Pipo Derani, the Action Express Racing Cadillac driver holds a slender three-point advantage over Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura drivers Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque ahead of the decisive 10-hour enduro at Road Atlanta later this month.
AXR's only win of the season to date came at the Sebring 12 Hours, after a multi-car incident in the closing stages boosted the car Sims and Derani shared with third driver Jack Aitken from fourth to the lead.
But it has been a consistent points scorer in the first season for the new hybrid GTP cars having registered additional podiums at Laguna Seca and Watkins Glen.
However Sims concedes that, having not added to its podium tally in the last three races, the 2023 campaign hasn't always gone smoothly for AXR.
Despite setting fastest lap at Mosport, the Cadillac ended up seventh as its strategy failed to pay off. A warm-up crash for Sims on cold tyres at Road America required hasty repairs and compromised a race that they would start from pole, ending up sixth, while a brake issue at Indianapolis that took most of initial practice to fix left AXR on the backfoot all weekend before recovering to fourth.
"Maybe the end results have been reasonably consistent, but it feels – and I’m sure everyone is the same – like we’ve left a lot of points on the table in quite a few races," Sims told Autosport.
"I’m somewhat surprised honestly that we are leading the championship going into the last round, but I think it’s probably just the reality for most if not all of us up and down the pitlane with the new cars that we just haven’t been able to execute a good solid weekend every time.
Source: Autosport