The 2 day test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a monumental event for each driver on Team Sahlen.  It is the dream of every race car driver to say they have raced around the brickyard.  And now each driver would have a chance to put this one on their CV. 

The “Roval” configuration of the road course version of Indianapolis made for some very unique set up challenges for Team Sahlen.

Wayne Nonnamaker shared this struggle – “The infield was very flat, with little camber angle in the turns, yet the banking obviously has significant grip due to the angle degrees of Indy turn one. The crew worked hard for the entire 2 days coming to grips with which set up worked best.  I don’t know if we ever came to a set up that was perfect, but we certainly got a lot closer.”

Dane Cameron agreed with Wayne’s thoughts - “The test at Indianapolis was very challenging, it is a tricky little circuit.  First, I cannot thank all of the crew enough for working so hard in miserable 105+ degree weather for three days. We ran through lots of changes and I think we have a good place to start when we come back at the end of the month for the race.”

As Dane mentioned, the other item at hand that Team Sahlen was dealing with was a record setting Heat Wave going through the state of Indiana (and the entire Midwest for that matter).  The temperature/clock on the side of the trailer read 111 in the shade.  When the clock was placed in the sun, it froze up within 3 minutes.  Placing the clock back in the shade, it finally came back to a temperature where it could read again, which was 118 degrees. 

Will Nonnamaker weighed in on his thoughts on the heat – “Our team has been to some really hot events through the years, Phoenix, Dominican Republic, Barber, Homestead,,,but this one has to be right up there in the Top 10, if not the Top 5.  Going into any kind of air conditioning caused you to have a flash attack when you came back out.  One time the crew temp gauged my shoes when I got out of the car and the registered over 140 degrees.  Hopefully it all cools down before we come back in late July.”

The Grand American ROLEX Brickyard Grand Prix will be on July 27^th.  This event is the 3^rd of the Grand American ROLEX series North American Endurance Championship.  The other two rounds being the ROLEX 24 Hours at Daytona and the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen. The event will air live on SPEEDTV at 4 pm et.

The 2012 Team Sahlen campaign in the

GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series is supported by:

 Mazda, Mazdaspeed, SimXperience, Alcon, Racetech, NGK, Cool Shirt, Racing Print Media, Mothers Polish, TheRaceSite.com, Western New York Flash, Grassroots Motorsports, ASC Industries, Iannetti Design Ideas, CM Racing, Quarter Master, BBS Wheels, MSI Racing Products, Endurance Karting and Akron Aeros