Posted (07/19/2011) -
The summer event at New Jersey Motorsports Park has become notoriously famous for being scalding hot; with temperatures and humidity so high that shoes have melted to the floorboards and drivers have been taken to medical for dehydration. With all ROLEX GT teams facing the same situation, Team Sahlen hopes that their young driver line up of John Edwards and Wayne Nonnamaker will manage the heat better than most.
“It’s hard to explain to individuals how exactly hot these conditions can be. The best way to explain it is put on your winter gear of long johns, gloves, coat, and including a ski mask over your face. Then go to a sauna, and rid a stationary bike for an hour. That is honestly how bad it gets.” Shares Wayne Nonnamaker
Beyond the #42 Mazda RX-8 driven by John and Wayne, Team Sahlen will be also entering the #43 racer. This RX-8 will be driven by the father and son team of Joe & Will Nonnamaker.
“Its always important for me to start hydrating several days in advance of the event. If I can be properly hydrated, its seems to help me to get through the race.” Shared Joe Nonnamaker, a veteran of over 35 years of racing.
Team Manager Jay Chapman shares his thoughts coming into the New Jersey weekend - “It was a very short week for the crew. We were only home for a total of 7 days, and turned around to get to the track. I am proud of how the whole crew has put the event in California behind them, and have looked forward to this race, to get our season back on form.”
“I look forward to returning to New Jersey with the RX-8 with much more knowledge of the chassis and how it responds. We anticipate a hot race so will be thinking of how to best manage tyres and drivers. Hopefully we can pick back up where we left off after Road America and put the bad luck of Laguna behind us.” – added Team Engineer Catherine Crawford Wallace
The ROLEX Grand American race at New Jersey Motorsports Park will be on July 24th. The race will be televised live on SPEED TV at 1 pm est.
The 2011 Team Sahlen GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 is supported by Mazda, Mazdaspeed, HRPWorld.com, Cool Shirt, Racetech Seats, BBS, Racing Print Media, Alcon, Mothers Polish, EMCO, NGK Spark Plugs, TheRaceSite.com, Western New York Flash, Grassroots Motorsports, Castrol Oil, Holliday Canopies, ASC Industries, Iannetti Design Ideas, CM Racing