Team Sahlen, presented by Optima Batteries, entered the 2nd Annual 12 Hours of Canton with a three driver line up of Ian Giebeler, Wayne Nonnamaker and Will Nonnamaker. For this year, the Team had added Ian to the driver line up from just the duo of Wayne & Will from 2023.
Leading up to the race, Team Sahlen participated in the Monday night practice sessions. In these sessions the team was able to work on their Pit Stops and monitor battery life data. On the Monday before the race, Team Sahlen qualified for the race, with a time that was good for 4th on the grid.
Leading up to the start of the race, there were Team & Driver Introductions, that was then followed by the playing of the National Anthem. The race started at 12:30 pm on Friday – March 15th. Will Nonnamaker started the race. The team soon got into the groove and settled into pace. Several full course cautions saw the race bunch up for exciting going back to green action.
The team saw their share of trials and tribulations that can be experienced in a 12 horu event. Throughout the race, the team had a few penalties such as pit stop violations and contact on track that saw drive thru penalties. Additionally, the team experienced several battery failures that cost the team a several laps on track. All in all, the incidents pushed the team out of contention for the hoped for 4th place finish. Yet this did not deter the team from enjoying the great event and having fun turning lap after lap around the track.
At the conclusion to the race, Ian Giebeler was bestowed the honor of bringing the Team Sahlen racer across the finish line to the conclusion of the 12 hour event, at 12:30 am on Saturday.
Will Nonnamaker shared his thoughts after the race – “Our hats off to the whole gang at K1Speed Canton and Competition Karting. The race ran smoothly from start to end. And the promotion of the event, including the live telecast of the race was fantastic. Having Ian on board this year was great. He ran some great times and provided great assistance in pit logistics on monitoring battery life.”
2024 Team Sahlen Campaign Partners:
honeybeeBase.com, Malco Products, Porsche Beachwood, ECS Tuning, Tarett Engineering, Guard Transmission, HubstandsPRO, Maxima Racing Oil, Pagid Brakes, NGK Spark Plugs, CM Racing Products, Grassroots Motorsports Magazine, Design Engineering Inc., Hard Brakes, Forgeline Wheels, Optima Batteries, All-Fit Automotive, Winding Road Racing, & Capri Tools.
