VIR: Team Sahlen race report

Seventh place finish confirms Team Sahlen's progress in Corvettes

Team Sahlen entered the Virginia ROLEX weekend with 27 GT class competitors. When the dust settled, the #42 Corvette emerged with a strong 7th place finish.

At the start of weekend, Team Sahlen utilized the early practice sessions to get a handle on the set up. Session one yielded a 20th and 21st fastest times. A suspension change before practice 2 netted an 11th fastest time.

For qualifying, Joe Nonnamaker and Joe Sahlen comfortably placed the #43 and #42 in 19th and 22nd position respectively.

"We were very happy with the progress during the weekend. The crew has been working extra hard, and that work is paying off with a race car that is very adaptable with minor set up changes. That definitely showed up in our progress from session 1 to 2." - states Wayne Nonnamaker

Wayne confirmed this progess with a 7th fastest time in the morning warm up that was held in damp but drying conditions.

At the start of the race, Joe and Joe drove very consistent, smart races, staying out of trouble while others banged and clanged. A yellow flag at the 20 minute mark saw both cars head for the pits for fuel. Then at the 1 hour mark, another full course caution came out. Both cars pitted, and changed drivers, with Wayne taking over the #43 Corvette and Will taking over #42.

When the race went back to green, Will was on the charge. As other competitors continued to tangle, Will avoided the carnage and steered clear. His clean run netted Team Sahlen a fantastic 7th place; a 13 position gain over the 22nd place starting position.

"Joe and I were in contention for a 7th place at Homestead until the transmission leak. Its great to be able to come back one race later and confirm up that result here today. I am really looking forward to Laguna, as our Corvettes were very strong there last year." - states Will Nonnamaker

Wayne finished in 15th spot. Post race inspection revealed a suspension alignment issue that may have been caused by earlier contact on the track.

"One of our #1 Goals coming into 2008 was to continuously improve our reliability. This weekend, both #42 and #43 made every session and finished the race. This reliability will further assist us in continually developing the Corvettes." - states Mike Thomas, crew chief

The ROLEX event at Virginia will be televised on SPEED Channel on Saturday, May 3rd. The next event for Team Sahlen will be the Laguna Seca ROLEX event held on May 17th.

-credit: tsahlen