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< Back to News Home Joe Sahlen is the recipient of the 2011 ROLEX Bob Snodgrass Award of Excellence

Posted (01/27/2012) -

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 28, 2012) - Joe Sahlen of Team Sahlen Racing (Buffalo, N.Y.) is the recipient of the 2011 Rolex Bob Snodgrass Award of Excellence, presented by Gorsline Company. The announcement was made during the traditional prelude to the Rolex 24 At Daytona – the Grand Marshal Dinner - which was held inside the Rolex 50 Years of Champions exhibit and attended by over 300 guests on Friday, January 27, 2012. From a short list of four highly-successful team owners competing in the 2011 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, a panel of motorsports professionals selected Sahlen as the award recipient and in commemoration he was presented with a specially-engraved Rolex Stainless Steel and Platinum Yacht-Master timepiece.


“Bob Snodgrass was such a special person. I think everybody in this room was touched by Bob’s passion for this sport, and his love of cars and all the things that were associated with this sport that we all love,” said Hurley Haywood, vice president of Brumos Porsche and a five-time winner of the Rolex 24 At Daytona. “The members of the panel wanted to make sure they named somebody who exemplified the same principles that Bob represented, which include his passion for motorsports, and his love for cars. They wanted to make sure they found the person who really stood out in the group and embodied what Bob was all about. Joe Sahlen is that person. He’s a team owner who stayed in the background working hard, while his team succeeded.”

Team Sahlen campaigned its No. 42 and No. 43 Mazdas for all 12 of the 2011 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series races in the GT class, and ran an additional entry in all but four events.   These total number of entries made Team Sahlen the most entered team in ROLEX competition in 2011. The No. 42 finished eighth overall in the 2011 GT class standings after placing second at both Road America and the New Jersey Motorsports Park after John Edwards joined Wayne Nonnamaker behind the wheel. The team’s season highlights included Nonnamaker and Edwards earning pole positions, respectively, at Road America and New Jersey Motorsports Park. Sahlen himself drove the No. 49 in four races with his best result a 12th at Homestead Miami Speedway. Sahlen Packing Company, Inc. has been the title sponsor of the June GRAND-AM race at Watkins Glen since 2003.



Joe Sahlen's Team Sahlen has raced in Grand American ROLEX and Continental Tire Series since 2005.  In that period of time, the team has entered cars in every class except for Daytona Prototype.  Joe Sahlen himself has also driven in all three ofthese classes as well - ST, GS and GT. 

 

Additionally, beyond his support of his race team, Joe Sahlen has also been a loyal partner with Watkins Glen International in sponsoring the Sahlen's 6 Hours of the Glen for over 10 years.  For 2012, the Sahlen's 6 hours of the Glen will be a part of the 3 Events (ROLEX 24 at Daytona, and Indianapolis), that will represent the inagural Grand American's ROLEX Endurance Championship.

 

“It’s a tremendous, tremendous honor and I’m really very flattered to receive this award,” said Sahlen in accepting his award. “Thank you to Rolex, and all our sponsors, to be in the company we’re in this evening.”  

This is the second annual presentation of the Rolex Bob Snodgrass Award of Excellence, created to recognize the team owner or team manager who has demonstrated the qualities of integrity, passion for the sport and the love of cars for which Bob Snodgrass was known during his life and career. In 2010 Bob Stallings, owner of GAINSCO /Bob Stallings Racing, was the first recipient of the award which is supported by Gorsline Company, the premier insurer of high-risk professionals.  

 

About Bob Snodgrass - Snodgrass, who passed away in 2007 at the age of 64, was president of Brumos Racing, and president and CEO of the Brumos auto dealerships in Jacksonville, Fla., where he lived for 35 years. As a team owner he had three Rolex 24 At Daytona wins (Brumos Racing has eight) and a total of 10 wins at Daytona. He was a driving force behind the formation of the Grand American Road Racing Association and the Daytona Prototype class. Born in Elmira, N.Y., he saw his first race at Watkins Glen, N.Y., and was hooked. Famous for his humor and wit and an accomplished vintage-car racer, Snodgrass (and Peter Gregg, who owned Brumos Porsche from 1965 until his death in 1980) was instrumental in Brumos' entry into motorsports.

 

About Rolex Motorsports - Rolex’s presence in motorsports began in the 1930s with Malcolm Campbell. While wearing a Rolex Oyster in 1935, he was the first person to drive an automobile over 300 miles per hour, setting a new land speed record. Rolex truly solidified its position in the sport in 1959 when it began an association with the Daytona International Speedway in Florida and later became the title sponsor of its pre-eminent endurance race, the Rolex 24 At Daytona, in 1992. It was shortly after its initial affiliation with the race track that Rolex introduced a watch designed for lovers of speed, the Cosmograph Daytona, which allowed its wearer to clock elapsed times and calculate average speeds.

Rolex is involved in sponsorships of some of the most prestigious events in the motorsport industry.  Endurance races such as the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Les 24 Heures du Mans, along with the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, are critical pieces of the Rolex portfolio. In addition, Rolex supports the traditions of auto racing through events that celebrate design, speed and passion including the Goodwood Revival, the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the Pebble Beach Tour D’Elegance presented by Rolex, and The Quail, a Motorsport Gathering.

Rolex affiliation also extends to two key figures in the sport: Sir Jackie Stewart from Scotland, one of the greatest drivers of his generation, and Danish driver Tom Kristensen, record eight-time winner of Les 24 Heures du Mans.

About Gorsline Company:
The Gorsline Company, headquartered in Rochester, N.Y., pioneered the business of providing insurance for high-risk professionals. The company specializes in providing racing drivers and owners creative, custom designed insurance packages and estate planning strategies.


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