Team Sahlen, presented by honeybeeBase.com, secured their 9th career Victory at Daytona International Speedway. The event was the 14 Hours Endurance Race with the Tire Rack – ChampCar Endurance Series.
Friday was a move in day at Daytona. The Team was able to set everything up in the Garages. As well the team took the opportunity to nut & bolt the Porsche Boxster as well as ensure the alignment was still correct for the event ahead. The team enjoyed a fun night eating at their favorite restaurant – Aunt Catfish’s on the River.
Saturday dawned with overcast skies. The sun was trying to peak through. The team hoped that the rain would hold off for the 14 hour event that was ahead. The random starting draw saw the team be very fortunate to have a 6th and 7th place slot in the 125 car starting line up. The team make quick time at the start of the race to move to the front of the pack. At the 2 hour mark in the race, Team Sahlen was sitting comfortably in 1st & 3rd place. As the race evolved into the next shift, the new splitters on both cars suffered from severe aero induced damage. The #942 “Ketchup” was the 1st to suffer from the issue. The diagnosis in the pits and garages on “Ketchup” allowed the team to make the analysis of what needed to be corrected to ensure that #943 “Mustard” could keep rolling along on track.
Sans splitter, the #943 “Mustard” kept rolling along on track. The only real hiccup the team suffered was a pit lane speeding penalty that resulted in a drive thru penalty. Each driver took their turn behind the wheel, rolling up lap after lap. The midday action saw the Florida skies spit down some rain. The small drizzle was hardly enough to get the track wet, but was enough to get the Drivers & Crew concerned about what could come. But the cloudy skies soon past, leaving way for clear blue skies.
The clear blue skies soon turned into evening stars and Daytona track lights as the sun went down. Still Team Sahlen was motoring around the track. At the 9 hour mark in the race, the event had soon become a 2 horse race between Team Sahlen and Eddie Vetter Racing. A classic battle of Porsche vs Corvette. Although “Mustard” could not keep pace with the C4 Vette, the gap stayed to a small 2 lap margin. Then with just 3 hours to go, an unfortunate electrical gremlin struck Eddie Vetter Racing out on track. This left Team Sahlen with a healthy 5 lap margin. And the team duly paced themselves to the end, ensuring a victory at the World Center of Racing.
Will Nonnamaker shared his thoughts after the race – “Wow, Victory at Daytona. It is always satisfying to win in the Tire Rack – ChampCar Endurance Series. But a win here is just magical. And to think our team’s 1st victory came here back in 1996. At the end there, all I could think about was brining the car home in one piece. I kept flashing back to the most recent event – the New Year’s Eve Sebring race, where we were leading by a lap with an hour to go when a car we were lapping spun in front of us and took us out. I didn’t want to repeat that incident for sure. The crew did an amazing job all day, and we certainly made progress on the field with our excellent pit strategy and quick pit stops.”
For Joe Sahlen, this marked his 1st Victory at Daytona – “It was 20 years ago that I 1st started racing. And my very 1st race was at Daytona in the Grand-Am Cup driving a Porsche 911. Now to be here 20 years later, back in a Porsche and winning OVERALL in a 14 hour event is just very special. And to have Joe, Wayne, Will and myself all sharing time behind the wheel is a great bonus of achievement.”
The next event for Team Sahlen will be the Memorial Day classic at Watkins Glen International with the Tire Rack – ChampCar Endurance Series.
2025 Team Sahlen Campaign Partners:
honeybeeBase.com, Malco Products, Porsche Beachwood, Discovery Parts, ECS Tuning, Tarett Engineering, Guard Transmission, HubstandsPRO, Maxima Racing Oil, Pagid Brakes, 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, Eibach & Valco Cincinnati with Big Wrench Racing
