Posted (04/23/2013) -
While there was no Top Ten at this past weekend’s ROLEX event at Road Atlanta, Team Sahlen did show excellent pace throughout the weekend. This started with the Thursday Test Day, where Dane Cameron placed the #42 – Mustard BMW Powered Daytona Prototype in 3rd slot in Test Session #2 and then in 2nd slot in the final 3rd Session on Test Day. And to confirm that the Test Day was not a fluke, Team Sahlen was able to repeat that performance with a 2nd fastest time in the 1st Practice Session on Friday Morning. The rains then came and cancelled the remaining practice and qualifying sessions.
“It would have been nice to have had more track time. And especially, to have had qualifying, as it would have been interesting to have seen what Dane could have done.” – shared Wayne Nonnamaker
Race day dawned beautiful sunshine and 70 degree weather. This brought out the fans to see the 1st ever Grand American ROLEX Event ever at the track. The Autograph session early in the day was well attended and the fan walk was packed
When the race started, everyone got away cleanly. Then at the 12 minute mark, a full course caution came out for a stopped GT vehicle on track. Ironically, this turned out to be the one and only yellow for the 2 hour and 45 minute event. During this caution, Team Sahlen choose to pit both the #42 - Mustard and #43 – Ketchup Prototypes. After the race went back to green, both Wayne and Joe fought hard on track. At the 45 minute mark, Wayne thought he had a flat tire and came into the pits. After the crew serviced the Prototype with Tires and Fuel, Dane jumped in and drove out of the pits. It soon became apparent that the problem was not a flat tire,,,and was instead a broken steering rack.
“While a dnf is always very disappointing, I think overall we had a good weekend. It was our most competitive weekend since Daytona and I feel we are really coming to grips with our Sahlen's BMW Riley. I think our car is quick enough to get the job done so now it will be a matter of putting it all together for some strong results.” – shared Dane Cameron
Unlike the #42 – Mustard entry, the #43 – Ketchup driven by Joe & Will Nonnamaker had a perfectly uneventful race. Joe drove to the 1 hour and 10 minute mark, and then pitted. The crew had an excellent pit stop and sent Will on his way. There was then only one more stop, a schedule pit for fuel and tires, then back on the way for a solid 11th place finish.
“It was a perfectly well executed race by the #43 – Ketchup crew today. They found a broken clutch after morning warm-up and replaced it with plenty of time to spare. Then in the race, we had perfect pit stops, and Will & I didn’t put a wheel off all race, to have our top result of the year in 11th place.” – shared Joe Nonnamaker
Currently the #42 – Mustard sits in 10th place in the Team Championship. In the Jim Trueman Sportsman Award for the Daytona Prototype class, Wayne Nonnamaker retains his lead, despite the dnf for the race. Additionally, Will & Joe Nonnamaker moved up to 3rd and 4th respectively in the year long Award.
The next event for Team Sahlen will be the on June 1st at 12:25 pm. The race will be taped delayed same day coverage at 5 pm.
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