Team Sahlen just missed out on a 3^rd consecutive Top 10 finish.  In the end the team settled for an 11^th place finish.  If as an indicator of the level of competitiveness to reach the Top 10; The 8^th, 9^th and 10^th place slots in GT were filled by the TRG racers of Stanton, Pumpelley & Lally.  

Leading up to the race, all teams were struggling with front grip.  And Team Sahlen was not immune to the plagues of the track's surface interacting with the Pirelli Tires.  Finally in qualifying, the crew and drivers were able to secure a set up that found that elusive grip level desired.  Joe Nonnamaker qualified the #43 Corvette in 13^th slot. 

At the start of the race, Joe Nonnamaker avoided the carnage in the DP and GT fields to safely slot into a comfortable 11^th place.  An early yellow allowed him to make the mandatory 45 Minute pit stop.  As the race progressed, and the competitors continued to wear out their tires, the Team Sahlen Corvette came to life.  Soon Joe was running times equal to almost all in the GT field.  

As the time drew near in for the mid-race pit stop, Joe has risen all the way to 8^th place.  At the green flag pit stop, Will Nonnamaker replaced his Dad in the driver's slot, and the crew did a fantastic job changing tires and adding fuel.

"I enjoyed my stint in the Corvette.  I felt like I had really slowed down at the end of my stint, but the crew got on the radio and shared that I was actually running the same times as the front runners."- states Joe Nonnamaker

Will Nonnamaker quickly acclimated himself on track, and got to the job of moving up through the field.  Soon Will found himself behind the lapped #68 Porsche.  Ironically, or not, this was the same car that crashed into the #42 & #43 Corvettes at Mid-Ohio while a lap down.  Will choose his pass carefully to ensure a safe maneuver.  A lapping DP proved to be the optimal decoy to allow Will to get by as well.  Unfortunately, the delay on track allowed the hard charging Andy Lally to catch up to Will.  For the next 7-8 laps, Will battled for 8^th place with Andy Lally and Craig Stanton.  With tires well worn, the Corvette came to life and was able to match the pace of the TRG Porsches.  

A late race yellow flag saw all competitors dash for the pits for Fuel and Tires.  Once on new rubber, the Porsches seemed to have the better of the Corvette, and all Will could do was hold on and secure 11^th place.  

"I really wanted to deliver a 10^th place finish for the guys on the team.  But it just wasn't to be today.  It was exciting in the middle part of the race racing with the TRG guys.  It would have been interesting had the yellow not flew, and we all would have stayed on worn tires.  The great news is that both Corvettes are in one piece and we can push forward and be ready for the upcoming Watkins Glen event." - states Will Nonnamaker

The next event for Team Sahlen will be the Watkins Glen event on August 7^th.  The event will be televised live on SPEED Channel.

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