Team Sahlen entered the 2^nd event on the 2013 ROLEX Calendar at the brand new Circuit of the Americas.  This beautiful track was raced on by Formula 1 in the fall of 2012.  The ROLEX series would be the 1^st race of the 2013 calendar for the Austin, Texas based track.

The Thursday Test Day proved to be very beneficial to Team Sahlen.  Except for driving the track on Playstation, none of the drivers had ever been on the track.  As well, unlike other teams, Team Sahlen had not tested at the track, so set up knowledge was at a minimum.  The #42 BMW Powered Daytona Prototype spent the entire day working on different set up after different set up.  This proved beneficial as lap times consistently went down from the start to the end of the day. The #43 worked through continuing to adjust the paddle shifter system to get it to work in the Daytona Prototype.  It was a bit of a struggle that went on throughout the Test Day.  And even at the conclusion of the day, a solution could not be found.  But, collectively, Team Sahlen, Dinan Engineering and Bosch worked together into the late evening.  At that point a key mechanical pieces was readjusted.  This item solved the problem, and the Paddle Shifters worked just fine in the 1^st practice session.

“Everyone worked so hard to solve the paddle shifters.  We had to take them off before the ROLEX 24 because we couldn’t get them to work.  To now have the paddle shifters working is an exciting piece to the success of the #43 DP for the remainder of the 2013 race season.” – shared Joe Nonnamaker

During practice, the #42 with the “Wayne & Dane Show” continued to show progress, placing 11^th in practice session 1, then jumping to 9^th in P2, and moving all the way up to 7^th in P3.  For Qualifying, Wayne held his own and place the #42 BMW Powered machine in 10^th place.  Joe Nonnamaker, still making up for lost track time on Test Day, settled for 15^th slot on the grid.

“I am still getting used to the DPs, and it will take awhile to find where the maximum grip level is for these machines on new tires.  All in all, I am very happy with 10^th place for my 1^st Qualifying effort.  And I know it will only get better and better each race.” – stated Wayne Nonnamaker

At the start of the race, there was a bit of a mix up at the front of the DP pack.  Wayne Nonnamaker was able to avoid contact and drove through the melee.  Joe Nonnamaker was fortunate to miss getting hit, but did spin the DP in the process.  This put him back in the field, but fortunately still running around the track.  Wayne continued to run solid lap times, running up as high as 7^th place in the early stages.  At the 35 minute mark, a full course yellow came out.  At this point, both the #42 & #43 racers pitted for tires, fuel and driver change.   Dane Cameron, replacing Wayne, did a solid job running with the main pack during the middle stage of the race.  Will Nonnamaker had just barely gotten comfortable in the car, when the Electric Power Steering gave way. This forced the #43 racer back to the garage for a new system. 

As the race rolled into the final 1/3^rd of the event, Dane Cameron had the unique situation of also suffering from an Electrical Power Steering failure.  Fortunately for Dane, his system never went out entirely, but just intermittently.  Ironically, during this period of time, the #42 rose up to sneak into the Top 5.  But the difficulties of driving with a failing Power Steering meant that Team Sahlen would be forced to accept an 8^th place finish as a consolation prize.  The #43 made it back out on track, where Will Nonnamaker brought the DP racer home 15^th without a scratch on the car.

After the race, Dane Cameron shared his thoughts – “I think COTA was every bit as challenging as we thought it would be, but we survived and finished one spot better than Daytona. This was our first time running high downforce so we learned a huge amount about all of the different options that we have. I think we were all hoping for a bit more speed but there were still many positives to take away from the weekend. Every session we improved the car and we closed the gap to the front of the field, the guys are really settling in with the car so I think it's all starting to come together.”

Wayne Nonnamaker retained his lead in the Jim Trueman Sportsman Award for Daytona Prototypes over Enzo Potolicchio.

The next event for Team Sahlen will be the Porsche 250 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.  The race will be televised live on April 7^th at 5:30 pm est. on SPEEDTV.

About Team Sahlen

The 1^st Professional season for the team was in 1984.  Since that time, the team has recorded 53 victories, 158 podiums, 40 Pole Positions and 41 fastest race laps.  Dating back to 2001, Team Sahlen has a rich history in Grand American Competition, highlighted by championships in the Continental Sports Car Series.  This includes ST class Championships in 2001 & 2002, and then GS titles in 2003 & 2004.  Most recently in ROLEX series competition, Team Sahlen has captured the 2005 and 2011 Bob Akin Sportsman Awards in the GT class.  During the 2011 and 2012 race seasons, Team Sahlen captured 1 victory, 5 podiums, 2 pole positions and 2 fastest race laps and well as the most entered team in the ROLEX series. Check out the latest Team Sahlen news at:  www.TeamSahlen.com

GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series is supported by:

BMW Motorsports, Dinan Engineering, Design Engineering Inc, Penske Shocks, EMCO Gears, Racing Print Media, Mothers Polish, TheRaceSite.com, PFC Brakes, Classic Motorsports Magazine, Grassroots Motorsports Magazine, BBS Wheels, and Hella Lights