Team Sahlen entered the Sahlen’s 6 Hours of the Glen weekend with high hopes.  The Team had skipped the Lime Rock Park event to be fully prepared for the event.  Additionally, Team Sahlen had tested at Beaver Run Park to better prepare. 

The Driver lineup going into the weekend was set to be Nick Ham and Wayne Nonnamaker in the #43 Mazda RX-8.  Additionally, Joe Sahlen, Joe Nonnamaker and Will Nonnamaker were scheduled to drive the #42 Mazda RX-8.

But like all things in racing, nothing goes exactly according to plan.  A very dramatic wreck in the last turn during practice session 1 saw the #43 put out of commission for the weekend.  The good news was that driver Nick Ham was ok after the accident. 

The decision was made by the team to place full season driver Wayne Nonnamaker into the #42 to form a quartet of chauffeurs for the Mazda RX-8.

“Putting 4 drivers in one car made for a tight schedule to ensure that everyone is gets some track time.  The good news is the that Mazda RX-8 was super reliable, allowing us to maximize what was provided to us.” – states Jay Chapman, Team Manager

In Qualifying, Wayne Nonnamaker took the safe approach, and placed the #42 Mazda in 14^th place in class.

Starting the #42, Wayne made his way through the 1^st few laps, only to get a puncture, that forced him to pit under green flag conditions.  This put Team Sahlen dead last in the event.  But not ones to give up, Team Sahlen focused forwards on the full 6 hours of the event.  Wayne’s 1^st stint was a tricky one, with ½ of the track being under a deluge of rain, and the other ½ of the track under sunny skies. 

“It was very difficult conditions to drive in.  The track was not wet all over, so you couldn’t switch to rain tires.  I kept all 4 tires on the pavement, which allowed the team to continue forward in the race.” – states Wayne Nonnamaker

Joe Sahlen followed Wayne in the driver line-up.  Then after a clean, error free stint, Joe handed the reigns over to Will Nonnamaker.  Will continued the pattern and then handed over to his father Joe.  Joe also stayed out of trouble, and handed the car back over to Wayne for his 2^nd shift.  As the race drew to a close, Joe Nonnamaker received the honor of finishing the long 6 hour endurance event.  In the end of the race, Team Sahlen had risen to their 4^th Top Ten Finish of the season, with a 10^th place finish.

The next event for Team Sahlen will be the EMCO Gears Classic at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on June 19^th.  The race will be televised live at 5 pm on SPEED TV.

The 2010 Team Sahlen GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 & GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Campaigns will be supported by Mazda, Mazdaspeed, HRPWorld.com, HAWK Performance, Cool Shirt, Racetech Seats, BBS, Racing Print Media, Alcon, Mothers Polish, EMCO, TheRaceSite.com, Grassroots Motorsports, Holliday Canopies, Alcon, CM Racing, Genesis Technologies, Endurance Karting, Bell Helmets, Castrol, Ianetti Design, and SpeedSource Engineering.