Team Sahlen, presented by honeybeeBase.com, always looks forward to racing at the Sahlen’s Sports Car Springfest at the Glen with the Summit Racing – American Endurance Racing Series. 2022 marked the 7th Anniversary that Sahlen’s has sponsored the event. Team Sahlen entered the weekend as the returning victors in last year’s event, having won OVERALL in both Saturday and Sunday’s 8 Hour Enduros.
Friday was a morning practice session followed up by qualifying in the afternoon. Team Sahlen used the early practice to get up to speed, with #41 “Chili, #42 “Pepper” and #43 “Salt” all turning laps on track. As the lunch break occurred, Team Sahlen sensed a great opportunity for qualifying, so the crew lined up the Porsche Caymans 1st and 2nd on the grid in anticipation of being the 1st ones out on the track. This would be crucial, as open track would be difficult to come by with 70+ cars entered for the race. Wayne and Will Nonnamaker did not disappoint in their initial laps of qualifying, placing “Pepper” and “Salt” 1st in Class A & Class 4 respectively.
Saturday dawned with a dry track, with a bit of overcast clouds keeping the conditions cool for drivers and crew. Starting Drivers Wayne Nonnamaker and Joe Sahlen were able to lay down some very solid fast laps right away and establish a solid lead in both Class A and Class 4. As the race evolved, Team Sahlen continued to battle hard on track against some very good competition. Great pit strategy saw both “Salt” and “Pepper” running 1st and 2nd OVERALL. A slight electrical glitch at the 6th hour saw “Pepper” go behind the wall for repairs. “Salt” though took up the reins of the charge for Team Sahlen and dutifully led the entire field home in 1st place OVERALL and 1st place in Class 4. “Pepper” returned to the track to secure 3rd in Class A and setting Fastest Race Lap in the process.
Will Nonnamaker shared his thoughts after the race – “What an amazing job by the crew today. They called excellent strategy and executed flawless pit stops. That put us in a comfortable position to be at the front of the back. And then Joe Sahlen drove some amazing stints to put us in the lead. All I had to do today was just bring the car home in one piece to the checkered flag.”
Sunday dawned beautiful blue skies, and temperatures in the mid 60s. Just like Satuday’s 8 hour enduro, both Wayne Nonnamaker and Joe Sahlen laid down some solid laps to march to the front of the field to lead Class A and Class 4 respectively. The electronic issue with “Pepper” from Saturday arose again. The Team Sahlen pit crew worked feverously to resolve the issue, only loosing 2 laps on track fixing the issue. Back on track, Joe & Wayne Nonnamaker put their heads down for the next 6 hours to regain spots. Some smart strategy and some unfortunate luck for the competition saw “Pepper” continue to move up the order. Until the checkered flag flew, with #42 “Pepper” securing 2nd OVERALL and 1st in Class A. The only car ahead was the #43 “Salt” ECS Tuning Porsche Cayman. And to top it off, both cars secured the Fastest Race Lap of the day for their classes. For the weekend, “Salt” secured the OVERALL and Class 4 Victory in both Saturday and Sunday’s 8 hour enduros.
Joe Sahlen ended the weekend with his thoughts – “You dream of weekends like this. To come to your home track, be the presenting sponsor of the event, have beautiful weather, set on pole position, set fastest race lap, don’t put a wheel wrong all day, have flawless pit stops, run the entire 16 hours of racing, win you class both days and then to win OVERALL both days. Truly this is one to savor.”
The next event for Team Sahlen will be the Memorial Day classic – The Sahlen’s Champyard DOG at the Glen with the Tire Rack – ChampCar Endurance Series. Team Sahlen will be racing their “Mustard” & “Ketchup” ECS Tuning Porsche Boxsters and their ever trusty “Charcoal” Mazda RX7. Practice will occur Friday. Then there will be the dual 7 hour enduros on Saturday and Sunday. For this event, Team Sahlen is the returning OVERALL Victor. With 110+ cars entered, there will be stiff competition to repeat this achievement again this year.
2022 Team Sahlen Campaign Partners
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