In GRAND-Am ROLEX Sports Car Series GT qualifying at Road America, Wayne Nonnamaker drove an amazing lap to deliver Team Sahlen its first Rolex Series pole of the season, with a lap of 2:14.678 (77.097 mph) in the No. 42 TheRaceSite.com Mazda RX-8 he shares with new co-driver John Edwards. It was his second career pole in the series, as Nonnamaker took the SGS pole at the Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway in 2004.

"I knew we had a good car before qualifying, but I'm really surprised where we ended up," said the 33-year-old driver from North Canton, Ohio. "This is such a fun track and a beautiful facility. It's been 10 years since we last raced here, and it took awhile to get re-accustomed to the track. I'm very happy that GRAND-AM was able to come back here. The team has been working so hard all year to get us to this point.  They have made a lot of sacrifices.  I also want to thank SpeedSource and MAZDASPEED for providing us with such a fantastic car.  The Mazda RX-8 is true driver’s sports car, both on the track and the street. I am really looking forward to tomorrow’s race, it should be a lot of fun." Shared an ecstatic Wayne after the session.

Added a very enthusiastic father, Joe Nonnamaker chimed in “I am so proud of Wayne.  He has been one of the fastest Mazdas in qualifying all season long, but to be on the top of the grid is amazing.  This is a real boost to the team. Beyond Wayne’s great drive, a lot of the credit for this goes to our Lead Engineer, Catherine Crawford Wallace, who has tweaked the solid RX-8 set-up to get the maximum benefit on track.”

Additionally, in qualifying, the Will Nonnamaker qualified the #49 Team Sahlen Mazda in 12^th position, just behind a pack of 3 fellow RX-8s.   Joe Nonnamaker qualified the #43 RX-8 in 14^th spot on the grid.

The ROLEX race at Road America will start at 12 noon EST on Saturday June 25^th and will be televised live on SPEED TV.

The 2011 Team Sahlen GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 is supported by Mazda, Mazdaspeed, HRPWorld.com, Cool Shirt, Racetech Seats, BBS, Racing Print Media, Alcon, Mothers Polish, EMCO, NGK Spark Plugs, TheRaceSite.com, Western New York Flash, Grassroots Motorsports, Castrol Oil, Holliday Canopies, ASC Industries, Iannetti Design Ideas, CM Racing