Daytona II: Team Shalen preview

Andy Wallace joins Team Sahlen in Mazda RX-8 for the Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona

Legendary Sports Car Driver Andy Wallace will be joining Team Sahlen at this weekend's Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16.

Not only will this be Andy's first opportunity to drive the Mazda RX-8 developed by SpeedSource Engineering; this will be Andy's first opportunity to drive in the GT class of the Rolex Series.

"I'm very grateful to Joe Sahlen and the Team for giving me this opportunity to return to the Rolex Sports Car Series. The GT class is extremely competitive and I'm looking forward to some great racing at Daytona International Speedway this weekend. Although I haven't driven with Will Nonnamaker before, we have shared the race track on many occasions in the past. I've always noticed how well prepared Team Sahlen's cars are and I'm thrilled to be driving one of their fabulous Mazda RX-8s for the first time this week" - states Andy Wallace

Co-Driving with Andy in the #42 Team Sahlen Mazda will be Will Nonnamaker. Will is the 2005 Bob Akin Sportsman GT Class Winner.

"I am excited to have Andy as my co-driver for this weekend's event at Daytona International Speedway. He brings a wealth of knowledge that I know I will be valuable for the team and me to learn from. Although Andy will be new to the GT class racing, I think he is going to really enjoy the competition. The ROLEX GT series is very close racing this year, and when you do well in GT, you know you have taken on the best of the best and come out on top." -- states Will Nonnamaker

Although new to the GT class, Andy is no stranger to finding success at Daytona International Speedway, having won the historic twice around the clock 24 hour event an amazing 3 times overall. Additionally, Andy has also finished 3rd overall twice and captured a class victory in ROLEX 24 at Daytona.

"It is a great honor to have Andy Wallace as a part of Team Sahlen and MAZDASPEED at this weekend's event at Daytona. His record speaks for itself; Three 24 Hours of Daytona victories, Two Sebring 12 Hour victories and a LeMans 24 Hour victory. Since the start of the season, Team Sahlen's goal has been to assist Mazda in winning the GT Class Manufacturer's Championship. We had a very strong run with both the #42 & #43 at Mid-Ohio, and we hope to continue down that path this weekend with Andy in our Driver Line Up." states Joe Sahlen

Team Sahlen will be entering the #42 & #43 Mazda RX-8s for the event at Daytona International Speedway. Co-Driving the #43 Mazda RX-8 will be the father and son duo of Joe & Wayne Nonnamaker. At the recent ROLEX event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Wayne had the distinction of setting the 2nd fastest race lap.

The Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway will take the green flag on Saturday, July 3rd at 11 am, and be Televised same day at 1 pm on SPEED TV.

-source: team sahlen