By Wayne Nonnamaker

Writing this today I still have to read the official race results to make sure that it is actually true that we won the Grand Sports II race at Daytona to start the 2003 season. We went down to the event hoping for a top five finish, and knowing that with eighteen cars in the class, competition would be stiff. In our #41 SpeedSource Porsche, we had a very well oiled machine to take the green flag with, but when we qualified seventh, we were sure that while we would have a good shot at our top five, we doubted that we would be in victory lane.

Joe started the 911 and had one of his best drives ever. The last couple of years have not seen him get much time to actually race on track but you couldn't tell that from watching him at the start of the Daytona race. Running with the front pack, Joe never put a wheel off track, and followed the top five turning in some very fast times.

After a patient but fast drive, Joe turned over to me, and I went out and saved fuel as best I could. We ended up just making it to the end of the race on the fuel we had, and we won the race with steady, smart, and fast driving.

The Porsche that we got from SpeedSource was excellent. It was very drivable and fast. The win marked the eighth win for the chassis, but the first for that chassis at Daytona. With support from Orison Marketing and Gojo, we were able to educate many of the fans and technicians at the track about environmental practices, and the weekend was a success both on and off the track for us.

It was tough to watch someone else start a car for my brother Will. My entire four year professional career has been me starting a car for him. Nonetheless, I felt very comfortable with my replacement, Howie Liebengood, and he did exactly what we knew he could. He drove a very smart race, turned in some very quick times, and turned a car over to Will that allowed Will to sprint to the finish.

Will brought the car home to a third place finish, which was the best we were going to get out of that car this weekend. The competition at Daytona always seems to be very fast, and we knew that a podium finish would be a good finish. When we get to Homestead, the next race, we are expecting to be able to fight to the last lap for a win. For now a third place finish is a great start to the season and Will and Howie have an excellent battle with the Fenton Motorsports group for the Championship just like the one we had with them in 2002.

For now our next race is on April 13th at Homestead Miami Speedway. We plan on getting some testing miles in before then and perhaps even driving in a regional race or two.

The Daytona 250 airs on Speed TV at noon on February 8th, so don't miss that!