Posted (06/13/2013) -
Lifelong Ohio resident Wayne Nonnamaker is in contention for the Grand American ROLEX Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype Class Sportsman Award. The Award is for the top Driver whom does not make driving a race car their living. Currently Wayne is at the top of the standings leading into the 6th round of the series at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Appropriately, the Daytona Prototype Award is named after fellow Ohioan Jim Trueman. Jim was a lifelong racer and enthusiast for the sport. Jim raced many types of sports cars, including Prototype racers such as the Can-Am Series, and IMSA GTP racers. He enjoyed quite a bit of success, winning the Can-Am Series under 2 liter class and winning several GTP events. Beyond being a racer, Jim also was the owner of the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, that he purchased in 1981. Additionally Jim owned the Ohio based Indycar Team – TrueSports. Days before Jim’s passing from Cancer, Bobby Rahal won the Indianapolis 500 for Trueman and Truesports. Jim Trueman though was more than just a racer, he was a businessman. Jim founded and built the Red Roof Inns Motels to a 155 unit chain before his passing. Even to this day, the connection to Red Roof Inns is still apparent at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with the Garages all having red roofs!
The similarities between Jim Trueman and Wayne Nonnamaker don’t just stop at them being Ohioans at heart. Wayne too is a lifelong racer and enthusiast of the sport. Having started out racing Amateur level racing in SCCA like Trueman, Wayne competed at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course during the Fall National Championships. As Wayne progressed up the ranks, he rose up to secure race wins and championships in Professional Racing. These championships were spread across Touring (Acuras & Mazdas) and Sports Cars (Porsches). As well, Wayne has a passion for the sport as well, indicative by his creation of TheRaceSite.com - created in 1999 to providing Sports Car Racing news to the fans. Like Jim Trueman, Wayne’s full time job is not racing cars. Instead Wayne’s full time life revolves around owning and managing Subway restaurants located in Canton, Ohio. Currently, Wayne is racing in the Daytona Prototype class in the Team Sahlen #42. And to make the similarities even more quaint is the aspect that Wayne’s racer has a red roof!
If Wayne were to win the Jim Trueman Sportsman Award in Daytona Prototype, he would also set a new mark in the Grand American ROLEX series by being the 1st Sportsman to have won the Award in both the Daytona Prototype class and the Grand Touring Class (In GT, the award is named after Bob Akin). Ironically, Wayne’s brother Will is also a prior recipient of the GT class Sportsman Award and is in 3rd place currently in the Daytona Prototype Sportsman standings.
Wayne Nonnamaker and Team Sahlen will be racing at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course race on June 15th at 4:40 pm. The race will be televised live on SPEEDTV.
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
