Posted (05/05/2009) -
Team Sahlen's KONI Challenge weekend came together perfectly from beginning to end. In practice sessions 1, 2 and 3, the team was respectively 11th, 9th and 10th. Then in Qualifying, Joe Sahlen continued this consistency by placing the #43 RX-8 in 10th place on the grid. This position was improved upon by one position after post qualifying tech moved a ST car to the back of the grid.
"Joe did a great job in Qualifying. Every lap was faster than the previous one. He just kept getting better and better. Joe is really starting to get in tune with the Mazda and it is showing on the track, especially in qualifying. At Homestead he was 13th and now 10th at New Jersey, just fantastic." - states crew chief Mike Thomas
At the start of the race, Joe Sahlen avoided all major incidents and was able to get into a groove on the track. At about the 1 hour mark, an overly aggressive MX-5 dive bombed Joe into the new chicane esses. The strudy nature of the RX-8 meant the #43 kept going. Unfortunately, the MX-5 was not so lucky and parked to the side of the track a 1/2 lap later.
A caution at 1 hour saw Joe pit. The Team Sahlen crew did a fantastic job putting 4 new tires and fuel in the car as Will Nonnamaker got in the car to drive. Another caution 10 minutes later saw Will dash into the pits for a top off of fuel.
"We knew that we would be tight in fuel if the race went full green from that point forward, but we couldn't pass up on the opportunity to top off on fuel." - stated Will Nonnamaker