< Back to News Home Team Sahlen proves competitive at Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen

Posted (07/04/2013) -

Team Sahlen continues to make great strides in pace and consistency in their 1st year in Daytona Prototypes.  This was never more evident at the recent Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen.    At or near the top of the time charts, including a top spot in session 3 saw Team Sahlen anticipating a great grid spot from Qualifying.  Unfortunately, the Qualifying session was rained out, placing the grid on points position.   At the start of the race, Dane Cameron wasted little time in getting to the front of the pack, rising all the way up to 2nd place.  As the race rolled along, Mark Wilkins and Wayne Nonnamaker took turns behind the wheel.  During Wayne’s stint, the #42 – Mustard machine even leaped into the lead.  Unfortunately, this was the point at which Murphy’s law took over.  A faulty wire in the radio harness meant Wayne did not know he was the leader when a full course caution came out, which led to Wayne not slowing down to allow the pace car to catch up to him.  A black flag for this infracition, and another for not having a radio saw a huge hole to dig out of.  But the crew persevered and with 1 hour to go, the #42 was still on the lead lap,,,only to have the driver transponder plug malfunction.  All of these stops and starts eventually put too much strain on the clutch and the #42 Mustard was forced to retire with 2 laps to go in the event, with a disappointingly 12th place finish. 

 

Dane Cameron shared his input on the weekend’s pace - “Our first Sahlen's 6hrs of the Glen in Daytona Prototype was certainly disappointing. While the end result wasn't what we had hoped for I am still very proud of the whole team for never giving up and pushing through all the little gremlins we had during the race. We did make a number of big gains with a few things that have been plaguing us all season so it was great to put those to rest.”

 

The #43 – Ketchup racer had a completely incident free weekend and event.  This allowed drivers Joe Nonnamaker, Will Nonnamaker and Joe Sahlen to get much needed seat time behind the wheel and capture a 13th place class finish.  

 

“We had a very nice run for the entire six hours.  Hats off to the crew, as the #43 – Ketchup ran without a hitch all weekend.  We didn’t have one unscheduled pit stop, and the DP was just as strong at the end of the event as it was at the start of the race.” – Shared Joe Nonnamaker

 

Off track, Team Sahlen had a full docket of promotional events planned.  On the prior Sunday, the home game of the Sahlen’s Western New York Flash Soccer  was a racing theme.  This included a promotional tie-in with Watkins Glen International.  The women’s jersey’s had the Watkins Glen International logo as well as the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen branding.  Tickets to the race as well as event merchandise were handed out.  The half time festivities also had a youth fan goal kicking contest for prizes.  Team Sahlen was also represented with the #43 race winning Mazda RX-8, the Team Sahlen Training Go-Kart and the Hot Dog Hot Rod Soap Box Derby Racer.  And of course, Hot Dog Boy was also present to great fans.

 

Throughout the week, Team Sahlen Drivers Joe Sahlen, Wayne Nonnamaker and Will Nonnamaker all had separate Radio Interviews with various Motorsports shows.   Then on Wednesday, drivers Dane Cameron, Will Nonnamaker & Mark Wilkins were treated to a tour of the Sahlen Packing Plant by Joe Sahlen. This was then followed up with a tour of the Sahlen Sports Park, dinner cooked by Anita Sahlen, then a fun night of Go-Karting with the Sahlen Family and Friends at Lasertron. 

 

At the start of the weekend, Team Sahlen attended the pre-event Corner Worker Meeting with Grand American and Watkins Glen International President Michael Printup.  The Glen was able to bring complimentary coffee and donuts and Sahlen’s was able to provide “thank you” gifts of mugs and aprons.

 

At the track on Friday, Team Sahlen was kept busy off the track conducting Photo sessions.  1st wast the traditional team photo under the Sahlen bridge on the front straight. Then BMW Motorsports arranged for all the BMW ROLEX teams to have a photo session in turn one.  Later in the day as well, BMW conducted head shots of each Team Sahlen driver, as well as a unique 360 degree photo collage of the #43 Ketchup Daytona Prototype.

 

The typically packed Autograph Session at the race track was especially busy this year on Saturday, as the Western New York Flash graced the event with their presence.  And their presence certainly had an impact, as it was the most highly attended autograph session ever held by at Watkins Glen for a ROLEX event.  If the event would have been extended another 2 hours, it most likely would not have been long enough to have satisfied the fan’s desire for meeting the drivers and soccer players.

 

Immediately following the Autograph Session, the Flash players were treated to a tour of the Team Sahlen Daytona Prototypes, as well as a tour of the paddock.  Then on Saturday night, both Team Sahlen and the Western New York Flash were treated to a fantastic dinner hosted by Watkins Glen International.  The event was extra special as the date was near both Anita Sahlen and Joe Nonnamaker’s birthdays, making the event even more celebratory.

 

On Sunday, the Flash players were the Grand Marshall’s for the race.  Each player had a tour the track in the Official BMW pace cars. All time Goal Scorer and Western New York native Abby Wambach gave one of the most inspired “Drivers Start Your Engines” you will ever hear.  As well, Olympic Gold Medalist Carli Lloyd waved the green flag.

 

“It was a fun filled weekend for Sahlen’s.  It was very enjoyable to be able to arrange to have our Western New York Flash players here at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen watching our Team Sahlen Daytona Prototypes racing for the overall victory.  We came very close, even leading the race during one stretch.  To say that the end result was disappointing would be an understatement.  But I am fully confident in the team, and we are making great strides that I feel will play out in some great results in the later half of this season.” – shared Joe Sahlen

 

Following the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen event, Team Sahlen retains 10th in the Team Standings.  As well, Wayne Nonnamaker retains his lead in the Jim Trueman Award for the top Sportsman in the Daytona Prototype class. 

 

The next event for Team Sahlen will be the Brickyard Grand Prix held at historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  The event will be held on Friday, at 4 pm.  The event will be telecast at 7:30 pm same day coverage 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

Most Recent News Articles
** Team Sahlen's Joe Nonnamaker - Nelson Ledges 24 hours from 1980 to 2019
** Team Sahlen has a great day of Testing at Nelson Ledges Road Course
** Audi Mentor mentors Team Sahlen on new Audi R8 LMS GT3
** Team Sahlen excitedly announces their newest racer - the Audi R8 LMS GT3
** ECS Tuning welcomes new partnership with Team Sahlen
** All Fit Automotive helps Team Sahlen improve their Race Cars' Aerodynamics
** Team Sahlen secures Double OVERALL victory at the Sahlen's Champyard DOG at the Glen
** Team Sahlen secures photo finish 1st and 2nd Place at the Sahlen's Sports Car Springfest at the Glen
** Team Sahlen excited for Memorial Day weekend at the Watkins Glen International
** The Sahlen's Sports Car Springfest kicks off the racing season at Watkins Glen International
** Team Sahlen kicks off season at Watkins Glen International

Contact