Posted (04/23/2007) -
Team Sahlen was the surprise of the weekend in the KONI Challenge ST race at Iowa Speedway. Starting last in the 24 car Street Tuner field, Joe Sahlen mounted a mighty charge through the field. Every lap, Joe and the little Dodge would pick up a position. Some laps it would be just one position, and then some laps it would be several positions.
An early yellow at 40 minutes, saw Team Sahlen take advantage and stop into the pits for fuel. This strategy put the Dodge on a different fuel window from the leading pack. Now the hope was have the leaders have to pit, and the Dodge to make it to a yellow flag. The strategy over the next hour worked very well. Joe drove the race of his life, bringing the HRPWorld.com supported #03 all the way up to 4th place. The time to pit finally came. And then as luck would have it, the Yellow flag came out. If only the yellow would have come out 1 lap earlier, the Dodge would have stayed on the lead lap, and would most likely have secured 6th place.
But the race was far from over, and a Top 10 finish was still in the picture. So finishing driver Will Nonnamaker jumped in the car and did his very best to lead the charge and keep up the pace that Joe Sahlen had set. With the race drawing to a close, the action was tight, with plenty of door banging thrown in for good measure. Will and the #03 Dodge avoided trouble and stayed just ahead of the #76 Acura, the ST class points leader.
"What a fantastic race. The Team Sahlen crew did a fantastic job all weekend on the Dodge. And what can I say about Joe's drive. His consistency and pace during his 2 hour stint were fantastic. He is really starting to come into his own. All the credit for the Top 10 finish goes to his effort he put in today." - states Will Nonnamaker
The next KONI Challenge Series event for Team Sahlen will be the Lime Rock Park Memorial Day weekend event.
Team Sahlen's races with the support of HRPWorld.com, GOJO, Kempthorn AutoMall, HAWK Performance, Fikse, Cool Shirt, TheRaceSite.com, TheRaceMarket.com, Grassroots Motorsports, HOTSEAT, Holliday Canopies, Alcon, CM Racing, and Racetech Seats.
For more information on Team Sahlen, visit www.TeamSahlen.com.
|