Team Sahlen took advantage of the down time of the off season to invite their 2012 Driver Dane Cameron to the race shop in North Canton, Ohio.

Dane flew in on Wednesday from the Atlanta Airport directly to the Akron Canton Airport.  Conveniently, the Akron Canton Airport is only 1 mile from the Team Sahlen shop.  So Dane didn’t have a long ride when the Team Sahlen crew member was there to pick him up. 

On Day 1, Dane was able to receive a tour of the facility with Will Nonnamaker.  The Team Sahlen race shop is also connected to the Nonnamaker’s corporate offices and the Gateway Event & Conference Center.

Then the tour was followed up with Dane’s initial seat fitting, to ensure that he and his co-driver for 2012, Wayne Nonnamaker will be compatible in a fixed position.  From there, Dane and Wayne practiced driver changes. 

Added Wayne - “Dane and I are just about the same size, so our driver changes were very very quick.  From our mutual experience driving together with Racer’s Edge Motorsports RX-8 in 2009, I know we prefer the same set up.  It was great to have Dane here, even this little bit of practice will help when the 2012 season comes around.

That night, Joe, Wayne and Will Nonnamaker, along with Team Manager Jay Chapman took Dane out for dinner at the local eatery; 91, where everyone enjoyed themselves hanging out and armchair racing.

Day 2 saw Dane have the opportunity to meet with Team Sahlen’s Communication’s Consultant.  As part of this meeting Dane had the chance to take a Communications Assessment, then meet with Gail, the team’s consultant.

“Everyone on the team had been through the process to learn how they prefer to be communicated with, and how the other individuals desire to communicate.  Even when Catherine Crawford Wallace, the team engineer, came up in the later summer, she went through this process.  This system helps all of us to be able manage the highly stressful environment at the track and hopefully achieve more.  You might say its one way we see to reach that unfair advantage that Mark Donahoue refered to” – shared Joe Nonnamaker

Dane ended his visit with these thoughts - “It was great to make my first visit to the Team Sahlen shop and see the car for the first time. It's a big advantage that our program for 2012 is solidified now so that we can start getting to know each other now rather than at the first race. Everyone has given me a very warm welcome and I feel right at home with everyone. This visit only makes it tougher to wait until my first test!”

The 2011 Team Sahlen campaign in the 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