For the 2^nd Straight event, Team Sahlen captured a Top 10 finish.  This time the position was secured by the #43 Corvette driven by Joe and Wayne Nonnamaker.

The Mid-Ohio race weekend started off cloudy and rainy.  Spotty showers all weekend kept Team Sahlen on its toes.  Even Qualifying saw rain clouds and stirring winds that caused the drivers to deal with the climate changes.  Then for one last burst of rain, the morning warm up was also contested in slick conditions.  Wayne Nonnamaker seized the moment and captured the 3^rd fastest time in GT (and 10^th overall!)

Amazingly, from start to finish, the EMCO Gears ROLEX race was dry, dry and dry.  An early yellow flag saw many competitors dive into the pits for their mandatory pit stop that must occur in the 1^st 45 minutes.  #42 did pit and #43 choose to stay out.  This direction allowed Joe Nonnamaker to jump up to 5^th in class. 

"Our strategy worked out very well.  We made our pit stop just at the 45 minute mark.  Wayne went out and turned some very good times, holding his own with the competition.  A yellow came out and we had just about held onto the lead lap." - states Joe Nonnamaker

The #43 Corvette continued forward a lap down to the GT competition.  Coming up to pass the laps down, slower #68 GT class Porsche, Wayne was attempted a pass on the backmarker.  Unfortunetely, the backmarker decided he didn't want to be passed and turned into Wayne at the left rear tire, causing a flat tire.  Wayne quickly pitted and rejoined the race, albeit with a big handling issue.  The #70 SpeedSource Mazda a closing fast.  And on the last lap, last turn of the race, the #70 made a lunging attempt on the outside that turned out to be unsuccessful.  Thus, in the end, Wayne crossed the line in 10^th place finish.

The #42 had run a steady race, with Joe Sahlen rising all the way 11^th place in the early going.  Will Nonnamaker got into the Corvette and continued the steady pace.  Ironically Will was just behind Wayne when the #68 took out the #43.  Then after the incident, 2 laps later, the #68 put the very same hip check on the #42 in the same turn.  This incident put the #42 out of the race and forced to settle for 13^th position.

"I had no dry track time in practice, so my 1^st real laps in the Corvette all weekend were in the race.  Joe handed me the #42 in good position, with the Corvette in solid shape.  Its unfortunate that we didn't get 12^th place today.  But after having witnessed Wayne's altercation with the #68, I should have been wiser than to have put myself anywhere near the kamikaze driver." - states Will Nonnamaker 

"It was great to have a Top 10 finish.  We had lots of family and friends at the event, so a solid finish was extra special." - states Joe Nonnamaker

The next event for Team Sahlen will be the ROLEX Grand American event at Barber Motorsports Park on July 19^th.   The race will be televised live on SPEED TV.

The 2009 Team Sahlen ROLEX GT Campaign is support by HRPWorld.com, Cool Shirt, HAWK Performance, Forgeline Wheels, TheRaceSite.com, TheRaceMarket.com, Grassroots Motorsports Magazine, Holliday Canopies, Alcon, CM Racing, Genesis Technologies, Endurance Karting and Corsa Performance