Presented by Capri Tools
Team Sahlen, presented by honeybeeBase.com, entered the Tire Rack – ChampCar Endurance Series Memorial Day Weekend at Watkins Glen International for the 10th straight year. In that 1st event back in 2015, Team Sahlen had entered their #941 “Charcoal” Mazda RX7. In that event the team’s drivers included Joe Sahlen, Joseph Sahlen and Joe Nonnamaker. Interestingly. at this year’s event, all three drivers would be behind the wheel again contesting the race.
Friday saw the skies stop raining just enough in the afternoon that Team Sahlen could get some dry practice laps on track. This slight reprise from constant showers allowed the team to fine tune their set up for the race.
With cool but dry skies, Team Sahlen was able to take advantage of the lack of rain and hold their 2nd Annual Glow Stick party. Limbo Music, Cornhole, and Glow Stick Golf Cart rides around the track were the fun for the evening.
Saturday dawned with more overcast skies – spitting rain down. Additionally, the temperature started at about 45 degrees and only rose up to about 55 for the whole day. This meant that Team Sahlen’s drivers would have their work cut out for them to run competitive times while staying clear of danger. Starting the Porsche Boxsters would be Joe Sahlen and Joe Nonnamaker. Both did an excellent job staying out of harms way, rising up into the top 15 from the 80+ cars entered. The team was very fortunate on the 1st two rounds of pit stops to be under Yellow Flag / Code 35 conditions. This kept both #942 “Ketchup” and #943 “Mustard” near the leaders. This allowed both cars to stay in the Top 10 pack.
As the race wound down, the team was able to stretch out their run to get a full course caution when many missed the chance for the favorable stop. And amazingly, as the race went back to green, Team Sahlen found themselves in the lead of the race with 90 minutes to go. And this was a position that the team would not relinquish, securing the OVERALL Victory. Additionally, the #943 “Mustard” was able to secure 5th Place OVERALL.
Joe Sahlen shared his thoughts after the victory – “Wow, we just sitting in 7th to 10th place all day long. Then at the very end to just magically slot into the lead was fantastic. Watkins Glen is Sahlen’s home track, and it just means so much to be able to win here. My son Joseph is driving here this weekend and I have my grandchildren here as well. This just makes it so perfect to get the OVERALL victory.”
Sunday dawned with promising blue skies. The drying track saw a very fast pace that Team Sahlen did their best to match. For the #942 “Ketchup” Entry, the Saturday victory meant the Boxster would start a lap down. This left the honor of Team Sahlen to the #943 “Mustard” entry. Joe and Wayne Nonnamaker took turns behind the wheel to push to the front. Then in the penultimate stint, the rains came down, and came down hard. Joe Nonnamaker used all of his years of racing experience to muster up a fantastic pace lap after lap. He turned some of the fastest laps under the torrential downpour. Then a well timed Full Course Yellow / Code 35 saw Team Sahlen be able to sneak into the pits. And as the track went back green after the stop, “Mustard” was in the Top 3. This opportunity was all Wayne Nonnamaker needed to grab the chance to seize the lead, that he never relinquished all the way to the checkered flag. The #942 “Ketchup” made great strides all day to overcome the 1 lap deficit to secure a 6th place Overall finish.
Wayne Nonnamaker shared his thoughts after the race – “Joe’s stint in the rain is what really brought us home the victory. Not only did he keep the Boxster going straight for the full 2 hours, but his lap times brought us right up into the thick of the lead pack. I can’t believe that we essentially had the same race two days in a row. In both events, we came out of nowhere to jump into the lead with 90 minutes to go. You might have 1 of these races a year. Even perhaps 2 in a year. But to have this occur in both Saturday and Sunday’s 7 Hour Enduros is just unheard of.”
Team Sahlen’s next event will be the “Virginia is for Lucky Dog Lovers” Lucky Dog Racing League event at Virginia International Raceway. The Friday, June 27th event will be 7 hours and then followed up on Saturday, June 28th with an 8 hour. The team will be entering the #942 “Ketchup” and #943 “Mustard” Porsche Boxsters in the event. At last year’s Lucky Dog Racing League event at Pittsburgh, Team Sahlen secured the Overall Victory.
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
