Team Sahlen, presented by honeybeeBase.com, secured 1st and 2nd OVERALL in both Saturday and Sunday’s Tire Rack – ChampCar Endurance Series event at Pitt Race. This was the 2nd weekend in a row that team has swept the top 2 podiums slots in both days of racing. As well, the team has now secured 1st & 2nd Overall in 5 straight ChampCar races.
The weekend started on Friday, with an open test day. Team Sahlen took advantage of the clear blue skies of the day to take out #941 “Chili”, #942 “Ketchup” & #943 “Mustard” to get some laps in on the twisty Pittsburgh International Race Complex.
Will Nonnamaker shared his thoughts on test day – “Friday went perfect for Team Sahlen. We had some new compounds from Pagid Racing we were able to test out. And having Chili as a third car allowed for all 4 drivers to get in plenty of seat time. At the end of the day, Joe Sahlen and Joe Nonnamaker were able to go out and run nose to tail on track to get some great bumper to bumper on track action.”
Saturday dawned with continued sunny blue skies. The random starting draw saw Team Sahlen roll off the grid in in 40th and 41st out of 53 entries. Starting drivers Joe Sahlen and Wayne Nonnamaker did not let this momentous task deter them from charging to the front. At the end of the duo’s stint, they handed “Mustard” and “Ketchup” over in 1st and 3rd Place Overall. The team was able to be very fortunate in the early stages of the race in pitting under Yellow / Code 35s. This allowed for the team to diminish the time lost on track from the mandatory 5 minute pit stops. As the race neared the final ¼ of the race, the “Mustard” entry had an unscheduled pit stop for a tire that need replaced. This slight hiccup slotted in the final finishing order with “Ketchup” securing the victory and “Mustard” securing 2nd in the 8 hour event.
Winning Driver Joe Sahlen shared his thoughts – “We had a perfect race in our #942 Porsche Boxster. Not one wheel dropped off track, zero on track incidents, no penalties and all of our pit stops under Caution. This really helped us gap the competition. Then all we had to do at the end was continue to stay out of trouble and cross the finish line. The crew did a great job today on all the pit stops and that really made a difference.”
Sunday saw the starting order reversed from Saturday. This place Team Sahlen in the 11th and 12th slots rolling off the grid. This was fortunate for the #942 “Ketchup”, as the Boxster had the negative 1 lap for having won the prior day’s race. #943 “Mustard”, with Joe Nonnamaker held the team’s honor by roaring up to 2nd Place overall. At the 1st stop of the day, Joe Sahlen had made up his one lap disadvantage in #942 to rise up to 4th Overall. Wayne and Will Nonnamaker then hopped into the Porsche Boxsters and immediately went to work in trying to set fast laps while also saving fuel. This strategy worked out as the team was able to stretch the tank to 2 hours and reach a full course caution that set the team up well for later pit strategy. The race continued forward with both “Mustard” and “Ketchup” running fast, error free laps around the track. This resulted in the Team positioned at the end of the race to cross the line in a duplicate 1st and 2nd place finish to Saturday. The only difference in Sunday’s 7 Hour event was that “Mustard” took the overall victory.
Joe Nonnamaker shared his excitement over the victory – “What a great day and great weekend of racing. Pitt Race has to be one of the most fun tracks to drive on the ChampCar schedule. The competition was very tough this weekend. I think our race strategy and pit stops are what made the difference in securing the top spots over our competitors. That is just a testament to this fantastic Team Sahlen crew.”
Team Sahlen’s next event will be the Landjager Cup on October 21st and 22nd at Road America with the Tire Rack – ChampCar Endurance Series. In last year’s event, Team Sahlen entered just the #942 “Ketchup” and secured 3rd Place on both days of the event.
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