Team Sahlen hosted a party for MAZDASPEED Club Enthusiasts at their Race Shop on October 1^st.  Over 30 Enthusiasts showed up for the BIG Party.  Many were from the local Northeast Ohio area.  Yet, many drove from great distances away, such as Pittsburgh and Columbus to attend the evening’s festivities.  Team Sahlen utilized their adjoining Gateway Event & Conference Center (www.gatewayohio.com) to hold the evening’s events.

The Evening started off at 6 pm, with Dinner, where Subway Subs, Chips and Drinks were served.  While everyone ate in the main hall, they were able to watch in-car film of the Team Sahlen Mazda RX-8 in action on the track. 

After Dinner, driver Will Nonnamaker shared a Power Point presentation with the Mazda Enthusiasts that detailed Team Sahlen’s exciting plans for the ROLEX GT series in 2011.   From there, Will had a question and answer session with the Mazda owners.  Then at the end of this session there was a special appearance of Hot Dog Boy and his sidekick Ketchup.  This dynamic duo assisted in drawing names for special door prizes. 

At this point, most of the Mazda Enthusiasts were very anxious to get started with the most exciting part of the night; visiting the Team Sahlen race shop to see the ROLEX Mazda RX-8s and the Continental Tire MAZDASPEED3. 

Team Manager Jay Chapman led the Mazda Enthusiasts into the shop and provided an in-depth tour.  On display was the Clean Room where Shock Dyno and Transmission repair equipment is housed.  Then the Dirty Room were grinding, cutting and fabrication is conducted. From there the Mazda owners quickly fanned out, each individual checking out the 3 race cars on display.  A tour of Team Sahlen’s Chassis Dyno and new Trailer was included at the end of the shop walk though.  As the Tour drew to a close, all the Mazda Enthusiasts gathered around the MAZDASPEED3 for a group photo.

Photos from the evening can be found at this Picture Album:

http://www.teamsahlen.com/index.cfm?template=pa&pa_id=5815

“It was great to have so many Mazda enthusiasts at our shop.  MAZDASPEED is all about family and coming together to have a good time.  And this evening was right in line with that philosophy.  Marlon, the Mazda Corral director, and Jay put in a lot of effort to make this evening possible.  Hopefully we can make this a tradition at end of every race season.” Shared Will Nonnamaker

Further Comments from Mazda enthusiasts attending included:

“Big thanks to Marlon, awesome experience. Very cool to know the details of how a team works through the season, and a great opportunity to be part of it next year!”

“Thanks for setting it all up, Marlon! And it was great to see all the Mazda family too. Maybe we can set up a "thank you" email to Sahlens, Will and Jay for having us. That was really fun and they were excellent hosts”

“I didn't really know what to expect, either, but it was an excellent experience! I think my buddies and everyone else are sick of me talking about how the Mazda community is a family, but it's kinda undeniable.”

“The whole evening went above and beyond my expectations for the event, which were pretty high to begin with. Thank you Marlon for setting the whole thing and motion, and be sure to pass along to Will and his family, along with Jay that it was an awesome experience!”

“That was a cool experience, Jenny and I really enjoyed it”

The 2010 Team Sahlen GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 & GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Campaigns will be supported by Mazda, Mazdaspeed, HRPWorld.com, HAWK Performance, Cool Shirt, Racetech Seats, BBS, Racing Print Media, Alcon, Mothers Polish, EMCO, TheRaceSite.com, Grassroots Motorsports, Holliday Canopies, Alcon, CM Racing