Team Mopar Driver Lux Earns Top 10, Hard Charger and Holeshot Awards at Detroit's Belle Isle
The pressure was on No. 2 Mopar Viper Competition Coupe driver Cindi Lux. A vocal contingent of the more than 800 Dodge Viper owners and guests in town for the tenth Viper Owners Invitational (VOI.10) event had turned out to root on the Team Mopar driver in the SCCA Speed World Challenge GT event at the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix on Sunday, Aug. 31. Lux didn't fail to give the Viper nation a lot to cheer about, delivering a clutch performance as she fought her way from a No. 13 starting spot to claim an eighth-place finish as well Hard Charger and Holeshot race awards at the event.
Aloha, Ore., native Lux launched into a full-out attack to move the No. 2 Mopar Viper Competition Coupe towards the front of the field and to a fourth top-10 finish of the season. The launch placed her in a hair-raising, three-wide battle into the one groove, right-hand first turn. Exiting turn- two, Lux would hold the line and take two positions. Lux overtook four cars on the opening lap.
The start, which Lux considers one of the best of her career, was recognized as the most impressive of the day. The four positions gained on the first lap of the race earned Lux the Racing Electronics Holeshot Award. Those four cars were also the most any driver passed during the race earning Lux the Sunoco Hard Charger Award. It was the first time in her SPEED GT career that Lux was given the Hard Charger Award for most positions gained in an event.
Making the race even more special was that it was waged before an audience of the most ardent Dodge Viper fans in the world. Lux was involved in several aspects of VOI.10 as a speaker and special guest. The favor was returned by the group's near unanimous cheering lap-after-lap for the only road racing member of Team Mopar.
"The coolest thing was that under caution and during the pace lap, I could hear the Viper owners screaming," said Lux. "I was like, ‘Whoa! I've got to concentrate on driving.'"
The clutch performance was especially encouraging to Lux after enduring a tough outing at the previous SCCA SPEED GT event at Mosport.
"This is a real shot in the arm for this NayKid Racing team," remarked Lux. "To do that turnaround in the Motor City is huge. I owe it all to my team, as well as the Mopar and Chrysler LLC engineers that have helped out. This team could not have worked any harder from Mosport to this event on Sunday."
