< Back to News Home Team Sahlen returns to the American Endurance Racing at Watkins Glen International

Posted (04/14/2016) -

Team Sahlen will make their 2nd foray into the American Endurance Racing series.  The first adventure was at the 2015 series fall finale held at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.  The event was both a successful and enjoyable time for everyone at Team Sahlen. 


The Watkins Glen International event will be the opening round on the schedule for American Endurance Racing.   To kick off the season opener in style for the American Racing League, Sahlen’s has partnered with the series to present the event at Watkins Glen International. The event will be billed as the “Sahlen’s Sports Car SpringFest at the Glen.”  Sahlen’s will be hosting the Friday night tailgate party, as well as many additional activities and festivities during the weekend.  Joe Sahlen shared his thoughts, - “We are very excited to be partnered with American Endurance Racing here at the Glen.  I really enjoyed racing with the series last year at Mid-Ohio.  The Sahlen’s Sports Car SpringFest at the Glen will be the kickoff event to the racing calendar at Watkins Glen International.  And with the track receiving a new fresh coat of pavement at the end of 2015, this means that this event will be extra special by being the 1st race on the new pavement.”


In addition to their partnership in the American Endurance Racing’s Sahlen’s Sports Car SpringFest at the Glen, Sahlen’s will also be presenting the ChumpCar Endurance event held at the end of May.  This event will be titled as the Sahlen’s ChumpYard Dog at the Glen. The capstone to Sahlen’s involvement with Watkins Glen will be the 14th edition of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen.  This event hosts the WeatherTech Sports Car Championship series.  Additionally this event is 1 of 4 races that encompass the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Championship.  The additional 3 events include the ROLEX 24 Hours at Daytona, the Sebring 12 Hours and the Petit LeMans at Road Atlanta.  These 4 events combined are part of the elite top Endurance races that are held worldwide each year.


For this weekend’s race, Team Sahlen will be entering their 2 Porsche Caymans in the premier GLEN class for the fastest cars in the series.  Additionally, Team Sahlen will be testing one of the Mazda RX7s on the Friday Open Practice.  This test of the RX7 will be in preparation for the ChumpCar event at Watkins Glen that will be held in 5 weeks at the end of May. 


At the 2015 American Endurance Racing event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Team Sahlen faced some fierce competition.  With that knowledge in mind, Team Sahlen has worked on several areas of development to ensure that their Caymans can keep pace with the competition in this ever growing field of competitive endurance racers. This development has included testing 3 different types of tire brands, to correct rubber is matched up with the unique characteristics of the mid engine Cayman.


Drivers for the weekend will be Joe Sahlen and Joe, Wayne & Will Nonnamaker.  Wayne Nonnamaker shared his thoughts leading up to the weekend, - “I am very excited about this weekend.  Watkins Glen is always one of my favorite tracks to race on. It should be very interesting to drive on the new pavement.  With this event now being the Sahlen’s Sports Car SpringFest at the Glen, this just adds an extra dimension to the excitement leading up the weekend.”


Will Nonnamaker added his thoughts to the upcoming weekend – “There are over 75 cars entered for the race at Watkins Glen.  There was strong competition last year at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.  And this upcoming American Endurance Racing event looks to have even a deeper field of race cars that Team Sahlen will need to compete against for the overall victory.   It will be a tough weekend, but I am confident in our team executing both on the track and in the pits to be there at the end of the race to contest for the top spot on the podium.”


2016 Team Sahlen Campaign Partners:

Tarett Engineering, Guard Transmission, Porsche of Beachwood, Pittsburgh International Race Complex, HubstandsPRO, Brothers Grimm Landscaping, NGK Spark Plugs, CM Racing Products, Mothers Polishes, Grassroots Motorsports Magazine, Design Engineering Inc., Hard Brakes, Alcon Rotors, Lamin-X, Optima Batteries, Mazdaspeed and TheRaceSite.com.

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