Presented by Tarett Engineering
Team Sahlen, presented by honeybeeBase.com, kicked off their 2026 campaign by racing in the Lucky Dog Racing League – powered by Hankook Tires “Every Dawg has its Day” Dual 7 Hour Enduro at Carolina Motorsports Park. This would be the team’s 1st time racing at the South Carolina track. The Team arrived on Thursday evening in preparation for the Friday test day. The Carolina weather reminded everyone that it was still February on Test Day by being wet and cold. Thankfully, the weather cleared off in the afternoon, and the team was able to get some good quality laps on the track. This was helpful for the drivers learn the track as well as to come to grips with the Hankook Tires for the 1st time. The team’s #941 “Chili” Porsche Boxster performed well all day – providing excellent track time for the drivers – allowing both “Ketchup” & “Mustard” to save up for the race weekend ahead.
Saturday dawned with overcast skies to start the morning practice & qualifying session. The track was still very damp, and the team struggled to find grip on the track. And with only 40 minutes of track time split between 2 drivers per car – getting seat time was a premium vs setting fast times.
The race start at 10 am saw the track still cold and damp. Team Sahlen focused hard to just keep moving forward lap after lap. This focus was short lived for #942 Porsche Boxster as it was lapping a C Class racer that suddenly spun in the turn on the still wet track. The collision took “Ketchup” out of the running for the day. This just left the #943 Porsche Boxster to carry the mantle for Team Sahlen for the 7 hour Saturday Enduro.
Amazingly, the entire 7 Hour Enduro went without a full course caution. This meant that any hiccup on track or in the pits would put the team behind. Unfortunately, the team did suffer from 2 incidents that saw drive thrus in the pits. This dropped the team down 3 laps in the running order. Then in the last shift of the day, “Mustard” ran over track debris that cut down the right rear tire.
Will Nonnamaker was driving at the time – “Wow, I went into the brake zone in Turn 8 and the whole car wiggled and kicked to the left. There happens to be guardrail that is within feet of the track at this spot on the track. I was very relieved to have kept the Porsche off the guardrail, gathered it up, and made it back to the pits where the team did an excellent job swiftly replacing the tire.”
The Team secured a very solid 3rd Place OVERALL after what was a rather event filled race.
Sunday dawned with bright blue skies, and the promises of mid 70s weather. This promise was fulfilled with beautiful weather and great racing. Carolina Motorsports Park has a local zone ordinance dictating quiet time between 11 am and Noon on Sundays. This saw the one and only full course caution come out for the day that bunched the pack up under parc ferme red flag conditions on pit road for 60 minutes. Team Sahlen played the strategy perfectly during this red flag and was able to achieve their pit stops while also leap frogging the competition. This placed the team in a very solid Top 5 in the running order. As the race progressed after the Lunch Break, the team went to work putting in solid lap after solid lap. This pace led to the team moving up the order to 3rd and 4th OVERALL.
Joe Nonnamaker shared his thoughts after the weekend – “What a fun weekend. I enjoyed racing at Carolina Motorsports Park. The competition was super tough on both Saturday and Sunday. The team did very well to secure a 3rd place on both Saturday and Sunday.”
The next event for Team Sahlen will be the Tire Rack – ChampCar Endurance Series’ Daytona 14 Hours held on April 11th. The event will start at 9 am and conclude at 11 pm. Team Sahlen is the defending champion of the event.
2026 Team Sahlen Campaign Partners:
honeybeeBase.com, Malco Products, Porsche Beachwood, Discovery Parts, Valco Cincinnati with Big Wrench Racing, ECS Tuning, Tarett Engineering, Guard Transmission, HubstandsPRO, Maxima Racing Oil, Pagid Brakes, Frozen Rotors, NGK Spark Plugs, CM Racing Products, Grassroots Motorsports Magazine, Design Engineering Inc., OMP Racing, Bell Racing, Forgeline Wheels, Optima Batteries, All-Fit Automotive, Capri Tools, Fabspeed Motorsport, Rennline, & Eibach
