Ever since Team Sahlen made the decision in Mid November to make the switch from the ROLEX Grand American series to the Continental Tire SportsCar Championship, the crew has been flat out getting preparations ready for the big move.  The most significant aspect to this switch was the building of 2 Porsche Caymans for the ST class.  This included starting from scratch at purchasing 2 street Caymans.  Then the process moved to figuring out what performance parts to purchase.  And as well, the process included putting in a rollcage, then installing all the necessary safety equipment.  Add in the Holiday period, where many Parts Outlets shut down for the month of December, and this process was most certainly a tall task to take on.

Team Manager Jay Chapman shared his appreciation of crew’s efforts – “I am very proud of the guys in the shop.  This was a very monumentous task to take on.  But everyone pulled together, and figured out what had to be done and got on with the job at hand.  Despite the short time frame to build the Caymans, I am very proud of the product we have produced to go on track.  There is some real top quality fabrication and design work that went into the build process.  And I hope that shows up in the Performance on track.”

The drivers for the #42 & #43 Team Sahlen racers will be Joe Sahlen joined by the father, son, son triumvirate of Joe, Wayne and Will Nonnamaker. Joe Sahlen added his thoughts to the coming event at Daytona - “It was 10 years ago in 2005 that I made my Professional race debut.  And ironically, it was a Daytona in a Red Porsche, so it’s only appropriate that I would celebrate this occasion by being in similar liveried racer from Stuttgart.  The Cayman is a wonderful package.  I have one for the street, and it is one of my favorite daily drivers I own.”

The Engineering of the Team Sahlen Porsche Caymans will be led by Kate Crawford.  Although Kate is new to the Continental Tire Series, she is no stranger to Endurance Sports Car Racing.  And she will soon figure out the nuances of the Continental Tire SportsCar Championship soon into the 2014 race season.

Will Nonnamaker shared his enthusiasm to having Kate on board - “We are so excited to have Kate on board with us for 2014.  When I look at the entire crew, race cars and support equipment at hand for Team Sahlen going into this season it just amazes me.  From what we had when we last ran the series full time in 2005, this is quite a different look to our team.  Having Kate with us for the full year will allow us to get the maximum possible out of the Porsche Cayman in the highly contested ST class.”

The Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race at Daytona International Speedway will start at 1:45 pm on Friday, January 24^th

2014 Team Sahlen Campaign Partners:

Tarett Engineering, MOMO, Guard Transmission, Forgeline, Porsche of Beachwood, Pittsburgh International Race Complex, HubstandsPRO, MSI Racing Products, Mothers Polishes, Grassroots Motorsports Magazine, Maxima Oil, CV Products, Design Engineering Inc., Hella, Racing Print Media, Hard Brakes, BGB Motorsports, Penske Shocks, PFC, and TheRaceSite.com.