and Mopar Dodge Viper Comp. Coupe
Second NayKid Racing Dodge Viper Comp. Coupe Returns to World Challenge at Mid-Ohio
The last appearance of the No. 2 Team Mopar Dodge Viper Competition Coupe in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) SPEED World Challenge gave the Cindi Lux (Aloha, Ore.) her best career Series start, third, and finish, fifth. While Lux sat out the most recent round of the championship at Watkins Glen in June, the fifth-place finish at Miller Motorsports Park in May gave NayKid Racing high expectations for the remainder of the season. However, the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course will challenge those expectations at every one of its 13-turns. The 2.25-mile facility is less naturally suited for the strengths of the front- engine Viper than the Salt Lake City track or several of the tracks that await the program later this season. Furthermore, a recent rules change by SCCA officials to reduce the size of the air restrictor for all Comp. Coupes down to 25% intake will further choke the V10 engine. While none of this changes the commitment or the focus towards winning by Lux and the Mopar Viper, it does make the task even more difficult than before.
The one hour race on July 20 will see a significant boost to the Lux Performance Group, LLC-prepared NayKid Racing effort. Since the team's first race of 2008, a top-eight performance at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, Lux's Team Mopar Dodge Viper Competition Coupe has been the only banner-carrier for the Northwest-based team.
This weekend at the Mid-Ohio SPEED GT, the Series will see the return of a second car under the NayKid Racing tent. Fred Roberts will make his debut in the professional series at the Mid-Ohio round of the championship. The Toronto-resident will drive the No. 89 Direct Energy Dodge Viper Competition Coupe as a teammate to Lux. While new to professional racing, Roberts has an impressive resume in both the Michelin Challenge Series and the Viper Racing League with 31 career podiums across the two series. NayKid Racing will oversee the on-site preparations and logistics for this rookie driver. Roberts has signed a multi-race agreement with NayKid Racing.
Mid-Ohio and Lux enjoy a strong history. In 2007, the 1999 American Le Mans Series-sanctioned Women's Global GT Champion traveled here to debut the Dodge Viper Competition Coupe in the American Le Mans Series. Working closely with the factory, she helped in the exploratory program that led to the development of a Mopar Dodge Viper Comp. Coupe parts package for the American Le Mans Series GT2 class.
Originally used in the 1920s, Mopar (a simple contraction of the words MOtor and PARts) was trademarked for a line of antifreeze products in 1937. Today, Chrysler LLC's Global Service & Parts division is responsible for the manufacturing and distribution of nearly 250,000 authentic Mopar replacement parts, components and accessories for Chrysler, Jeep® and Dodge vehicles sold around the world. To assure quality, reliability and durability, all Mopar parts and accessories are designed in strict adherence to Chrysler Engineering standards.
The Mid-Ohio round of the GT championship can be seen on SPEED Channel at 1 pm (ET), July 24. Live timing and scoring can be found at: World-Challenge.com.
QuotesCindi Lux: "Hanging out with all the other Mopar drivers last week in Denver was incredible. Mopar certainly knows how to put on one great block party at the Mile High Drag Race Nationals. But now it's time to get back to work in my Mopar Viper for our next race at Mid Ohio. This track can be tricky and unfortunately a place that probably won't be kind to Vipers. It will be especially tough with our new restrictor plates that SCCA gave us. But our Team Mopar Viper is going to fight strong. I know one thing, its certainly going to be exciting for the fans because at this track you have to get pretty aggressive to make any type of pass."
Fred Roberts, Driver, No. 89: "Roberts Racing is excited about this opportunity to work with a pro team and take our experience to the next level. After careful consideration, we felt that NayKid Racing was a great fit to work with our team. They genuinely want to help us through the normal rookie 'jitters' in moving to a pro series."
Sunil Lahoti, Senior Manager - Mopar Marketing and Brand Strategy, Chrysler LLC.: "Cindi has posted back-to-back career best SPEED World Challenge GT Series finishes in just two races as a factory-backed Team Mopar driver. We made the right choice when we picked Cindi as the lead driver for our Mopar Viper Competition Coupe program. Cindi's success, as well as her NayKid Racing crew, is a testament to the team's talent and skill and also to the performance and power of the Mopar Viper Comp Coupe. It won't be long before Cindi pilots our No. 2 Mopar Viper Competition Coupe into the winner's circle."
