SCC: Team Sahlen 2005 season wrapup

Team Sahlen Ties For Most Entries In Grand Am Cup at Season Finale

Team Sahlen entered three cars at this weekend's VIR 200 and tied for the most entries in Grand Am Cup with SpeedSource Race Engineering. With a total of 43 entries for the 2005 season the team also took another top five in the Grand Am Cup Grand Sport class.

Team Sahlen competed in all Grand-Am Cup Grand Sport races in the 2005 season. The team also entered two Sport Touring races with the Team Sahlen/Ted's Hot Dogs Dodge SRT. In a nine month long season with a total of six Grand-Am Cup cars running the gamut, Team Sahlen closes the season with an astonishing finish.

During Friday's final practice the Team Sahlen No. 40 car encountered a critical incident. With the track slippery from periodic rain throughout the day, the car went off track hitting the wall. The car missed hitting the tire barrier by mere feet and came into contact with bare guardrail. The contact crushed the trunk area of the car necessitating major repairs. The crew determined to put the car back on track worked until 1:00 AM to repair damage to the car. The No. 40 driver Joe Nonnamaker thanked his crew for the hard work in preparing the car.

"On Saturday morning a lot of people stopped to look at our No. 40 car. They were astounded to see the repairs made overnight. They were even more stunned when the car took 5th place in the Grand Sport class. Our crew worked extremely hard to get that car in shape for the race and they deserve a lot of credit," said Nonnamaker.

Nonnamaker paired with one of his two sons to bring the top five finish to Team Sahlen. Joe Nonnamaker started the No. 40 car while, Wayne Nonnamaker took the checkered flag. Wayne was greeted with cheers as he gave the crew a thumbs up while crossing the finish line.

Brian Ortiz-Soto and Victor Gonzalez teamed up in the Team Sahlen No. 44 car. This was the first time in a Team Sahlen car for Ortiz-Soto. The duo finished in 14th place.

Joe Sahlen took the checkered flag for the Team Sahlen No. 43 car and co-driver Will Nonnamaker. This wraps up Sahlen's rookie season in the Grand-Am Cup and his co-driver commented on their shared success.

"This was Joe's first full season in the Grand Sport class. He has really done excellent work on the track. We are looking forward to the 2006 season," stated Will Nonnamaker.

Team Sahlen competes in the VIR 200 with support from Speed Group International, GOJO, HRPWorld.com, TheRaceSite.com, Hawk Performance, TheRaceMarket.com, Kempthorn Auto Mall, UNICHIP, Lamin-X, Racetech, and Grassroots Motorsports.

-ts-