Team Sahlen came into the Kansas Speedway event with high hopes of good run.  On paper the track seemed like the perfect fit for the Porsche Cayman.  And this proved to be the fact, with a Porsche Cayman sitting on the Pole Position in the ST class of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.  Unfortunately this was not a Team Sahlen entry.  Instead, Team Sahlen struggled a bit all weekend with finding the right set up.  In practice 1 and 2, the #42 entry was 6^th and 4^th on the time sheets. But then in qualifying, Will Nonnamaker only netted out a 14^th slot on the grid.

Will Nonnamaker shared his thoughts on Qualifying - “We were really missing a drafting partner in qualifying.  I did have one lap where I was catching some of the late starters in qualifying.  But I wasn’t close enough to make the draft useful.  When we got back and looked at the data, the draft from a lap in practice would have made up 6/10ths of a second, which would have put us comfortably in the top 6.”

At the start of the race, Will & Joe Nonnamaker proceeded cautiously through traffic, working to maintain position, while avoiding the carnage that occurs on the 1^st laps of the race.  In the 1^st 25 minutes of the race, 6 ST class cars were out of the race due to collisions on course.  This put out an early full course caution.  Team Sahlen took this opportunity to split their race strategies, and have the #42 pit, and the #43 stay out on track.  This allowed the #42 to top off with fuel, put new tires on and change drivers. 

As the race went back to green, Team Sahlen was ready to go to action to move back through the pack.  Being on a fresh set of tires allowed Wayne took the full opportunity it at hand to charge his way through the pack.  Picking off one ST competitor per lap, Wayne soon rose up to find himself soon in the Top 10 in the ST class.  Then, one by one, those in front of Wayne were reaching their fuel window, and were forced to pit for fuel.   Wayne rise up to 3^rd place, until he flew into the pits for his final stop of the day.  The #42 stop incredibly fast, which was crucial to the success of the race.

Team Manager Jay Chapman shared his thoughts – “The crew dedicated themselves to the weekend off between Lime Rock and Kansas to come in on a Saturday and practice their pit stops.  This effort paid off today, with a most excellent pit stop, that got Wayne in and out of the pits quicker than anyone.”

Joe Nonnamaker in the #43 meanwhile was running a very strong and steady race pace.  At the time of the full course caution, Joe had been able to stretch his fuel to wait to pit.  This had allowed Joe to rise all the way up to 10^th place and stay on the lead lap.  During the pit stop under caution, the crew noticed that Joe’s right front radiator was leaking a significant amount of water.  It was hoped that this was an abbreviation.  But as soon as the race got back under green flag conditions, the water temps shoot right up, forcing the entry into an early retirement.

As the race resumed with an hour and 15 minutes to go in the race, Wayne sat in 5^th place.  He quickly passed 4^th place, and set his sights on the podium.  Lap after lap, Wayne picked up his pace.  Soon he was in 3^rd, then 2^nd place.  Utilizing the full benefit of the draft, and really getting into the groove of the race, Wayne proceeded to set the fastest lap of the race, in his hunt down of the leader.  With 10 minutes to go, Wayne was right on the leaders bumper.  Understandably, the leader worked to protect his lead, running along the apron grass on the front straightaway.  Wayne waited patiently to make his move.  Then with a few laps remaining, he slingshot the leader on the front straightaway, riding around the outside of the leader.  At this point the leader decided that he would not only defend his position to the inside, but also make his car extra wide on the outside. This resulted in the leader driving into Wayne on the front straightaway.  This collision resulted in the #42 machine being launched a good foot in the air, before coming back down on the track.  Wayne miraculously kept control of the race car, and kept going straight.  After analyzing that there was no suspension damage, bent wheel, leaking tire, or broken radiator, Wayne kept going.  He ran back down the leader at the checkered but ran out of time to challenge again, settling for a well deserved 2^nd place.

Wayne shared his thoughts after the race - “After the way this weekend proceeded and the bit of unfortunate luck we have had at the start of this season, this 2^nd place feels like a victory.  This truly was a team effort.  From set up, to pit stops, to race strategy, we all came together as a team to reap this reward.”

The next event for Team Sahlen is the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen weekend at Watkins Glen International.  The race will start at 11:35 am on June 28^th.  The event will be televised on Fox Sports 1 at 10 am on July 6^th.

2014 Team Sahlen Campaign Partners:

Turbo Performance Center, Tarett Engineering, MOMO, Guard Transmission, Forgeline, Porsche of Beachwood, Pittsburgh International Race Complex, HubstandsPRO, MSI Racing Products, NGK Spark Plugs, TheRacingInsiders, CM Racing Products, Mothers Polishes, Winding Road Racing, Grassroots Motorsports Magazine, Maxima Oil, CV Products, Design Engineering Inc., Hella, Racing Print Media, Hard Brakes, CRC Chemicals, Penske Shocks, PFC, Lamin-X, Optima Batteries and TheRaceSite.com.