Wayne Nonnamaker Takes Lead In Topsy-Turvy ST Points Race

Subtitle:Team Sahlen Scores Fourth Second-Place Finish in Five Races

Road America produced another leader in the Street Tuner (ST) standings of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge.

Brothers Will and Wayne Nonnamaker finished second in the No. 42 Team Sahlen’s Porsche Cayman. It marked the fourth time in five races that they finished second, and moved Wayne into the ST lead, unofficially nine points ahead of former leader Eric Foss (232-223.

Team Sahlen returns to the Continental Tire Challenge this season after competing in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series since 2004, racing in SGS, GT and Daytona Prototype. The team is the leading winner in series history with 26 victories since 2001. Including the IMSA Firestone Firehawk Endurance Championship that debuted in 1985, the team has 51 victories and seven driver and team championships.Wayne Nonnamaker won two Continental Tire Challenge championships – co-driving with Will to the 2002 ST II title – in addition to sharing the 1999 Motorola Cup Touring title with his brother. He also won the 2003 GS II championship, co-driving with his father, Joe Nonnamaker.Nonnamaker lives in North Canton, Ohio, where he helps run the family chain of Subway restaurants. He founded TheRaceSite.com – a news source for North American sports car competition – as a school project, and also does public relations work and web site development.How has the adjustment been for the team, returning to the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge?“The Team Sahlen’s crew has done an awesome job putting this car together, learning so much about the Porsches in such a short amount of time. They’ve done a great job engineering. They’ve also adapted to the style of pit stops in this series after years of running in the Rolex (Series). We’re looking good for the last three races.”Did you expect to be a contender that quickly in your first year running the Caymans?“There are a lot of great drivers and a lot of great teams. We said coming into this year that we respect everything those teams have been doing, and they’ve proven that so far. We’ve got several Prototype drivers and guys who have been in the top ranks. Terry (Borcheller) has won six or seven championships himself. The competition is tight, and to be where we are at this point of the season shows we’ve got the right combination. Our engineer Katie Crawford is doing a great job, along with team manager Jay Chapman and all the guys on the team.” Where did you obtain the two Porsche Caymans that Team Sahlen’s is running this year?“We worked with a couple of dealers to find them (on their used car lots). Porsche of Beachwood in Ohio has been a great dealer to work with, both from the technical side, and one of our cars came from there. When we bought them, they were trying to give us a rundown of what everything did in the interior of the car. ‘We’re going to tear this apart in two days, this is going to be a race car.’ The guy selling us the car was almost crying, it was such a beautiful car.”Four second-place finishes in five races – is that a good or bad feeling?“Being in the points lead with seconds – I’ll take that any day. The team is performing well. Sure, I’d like to have wins, but four seconds in five races – to be that consistent is really executing.”You’re racing with your brother (Will) for the first time since winning the title in 2002. How has the chemistry developed over the year?“We’ve each won three championships, including two as co-drivers, so there’s a lot of history there. It’s really cool to be back together. The last time we co-drove, we won the ST championship, so hopefully we can repeat.”