Lux Performance Group Enters SRT Viper in Portland RaceIt shouldn't take well-wishers long to find an appropriate gift for Cindi Lux as she celebrates the 25th anniversary of her first appearance at the Portland Rose Festival's Rose Cup Races. Roses are a great gift but, for the Aloha, Ore-resident, she is more interested in hardware, hardware in the form of the victory trophy for the 53rd Running of the Rose Cup Feature Race at Portland International Raceway (PIR). Lux returns for the June 14-16 event with the No. 5 SRT Viper Competition Coupe Fueled by Black Rock Coffee.
The Rose Cup Races, the oldest club and amateur road race west of the Mississippi River, held its first event in 1961. It was a significant moment in motorsports history for the Northwest but even more momentous for Lux. She wasn't there at the time but that inaugural event was won with the same blood that runs through her veins. Cindi's father, Dick Hahn, took the first two Rose Cup trophies and sparked a lifelong obsession for the family that can trace its auto racing roots back to grandfather Carl Hahn's participation in the Pan American Road Race in 1953. In 1988, Cindi made her first start in the race competing against her brother, Doug Hahn. In fact, it was the first race she ever ran in the Portland area. The weekend was a less than auspicious start for the youngest Hahn as her older brother lapped her three times in that event. Things would improve for the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award from Oregon Motorsports Museum Assoc. but returning the top award to the family mantle is still a major goal for Lux who has enjoyed stints as a Dodge, Mopar and SRT factory driver in recent years.
Lux Performance Group, the Aloha-based race and road car prep shop owned by Cindi and husband Fred Lux, have also entered a second car for longtime team driver Steve Streimer. The Sherwood, Ore.-resident will race a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car in both the Rose Cup Feature and the three Porsche Pirelli GT3 Cup Trophy USA West (PGT3 Cup) series races on the weekend. Streimer opened the year with a Gold class podium - second-place - at California Speedway in the one-make championship. Lux Performance Group prepares Streimer's Porsche throughout the year.
The event has become a tradition in the Northwest as closely tied to the annual city celebration as any other activity. The Father's Day weekend-tradition is the region's largest gathering of SCCA and club racers with over 400 drivers and cars entered in a variety of races and classes. Over 18 different "groups" make up the Rose Cup Races but it is Sunday's Rose Cup Feature race that is the attraction for Lux. The Feature is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. (Pacific Time), June 16.
Steve Streimer will run four Rose Cup races in the Lux Performance- prepped Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.
Despite her 12 road racing championships and 75 victories, the 1.967-mile, 12-turn facility will challenge the program that the Lux Performance Group has assembled. The "run what you brung" mentality of the Rose Cup's main event has made it one of the country's most prestigious club races. While Lux brings a race car designed by SRT for SCCA World Challenge racing, the V10-powered American super car has heady competition from thoroughbred racing machines such as highly modified, tube-framed Trans-Am cars and other one-off monsters.
Returning for the third consecutive year with Lux Performance Group at the Rose Cup is Black Rock Coffee Bar (www.BlackRockCoffeeBar.com). The Portland-based franchise has increased its association with Lux Performance Group and activation of this motorsports marketing platform in each season. For 2013, the greatest honor yet for Lux was announced in late May. Black Rock has crafted a special blend of coffee beans to create the limited edition "Cindi Lux Fuel Roast by Black Rock Coffee Bar" for the week of Rose Cup. The Cindi Lux blend will available at all Portland-area Black Rock Coffee Bars through June 16. Coffee aficionados and Cindi Lux fans can get an even more exclusive "Signature Edition Cindi Lux Fuel Roast by Black Rock Coffee Bar". This product will be limited to only 50 units and will have Lux's signature on the packaging as well as include the 2013 SRT Viper Competition Coupe Fueled by Black Rock Coffee autograph card. It will only be available online athttp://brcbstore.myshopify.com/products/cindi-lux-fuel-roast.
Black Rock Coffee Bar roasts its premium blend of coffee locally ensuring the freshest espresso possible. Endeavoring to find the perfect balance of flavors, Black Rock pushes the boundaries of what is possible with the daily cup of 'Joe', to stir things up a bit and to throw a little edge on the coffee biz.Black Rock brewed its first coffee at its first store in Beaverton in early 2008. Today, they span from Seattle to San Diego with nine Black Rock stores in the Portland-area and continued substantial growth planned in the coming months.
Quotes
Cindi Lux, Driver, No. 5 SRT Viper Competition Coupe Fueled by Black Rock Coffee:
On the anniversary of her first Rose Cup race: "That first year, I seriously had no clue what I was doing. Talk about a deer in the headlights! I was terrible! It's pretty depressing to be lapped by your brother, not once, not twice but three times in a 45-minute race. But, it got better over the years. We've gotten really close a few times but this one still seems to be eluding us. We know we don't have the firepower this weekend that some of the others in the class are bringing but we're going to give it everything we have again. We have great partners in Black Rock Coffee Bar and SRT and we want to put on a good show for them and the Portland fans."
On the significance of the Rose Cup to her: "With my hectic motorsports lifestyle I spend so much time road racing other tracks around the country, it's important for me to stay grounded with the people who helped launch my career. I owe so much to the people in Portland area. I have done some crazy things to adjust my schedule and get cars back for this race over the years. I don't always make it every year but we certainly try. I am very excited to be able to return again this year, our third with Black Rock Coffee Bar and SRT, to race in the Rose Cup. This is such a cornerstone event for me!"
On the significance of the Rose Cup to her family: "This is a really important race to everyone in my family and I want to win it but it is about more than that. This race is more for my Dad. It holds such memories in his racing career. He is 82-years old and still acts like a 10-year old around race cars. It brings him to life and inspires all of us. He will be with me on Father's Day as I run this race."
On her expectations for the Rose Cup: "We need 300 more horsepower to equal what the Trans-Am cars have... and that's not a joke. The SRT Viper Comp Coupe I am driving is built for the World Challenge series which is a completely different set of rules, more contained. But never count us out! In testing this year, the SRT Viper Competition Coupe Fueled by Black Rock Coffee ran very well. But you might be seeing me do a rain dance out on the track. Then it's a whole new ballgame! A lot more of an even playing field for us."
On her third year with Black Rock Coffee Bar: "The people at Black Rock are just fantastic. It's one of those partnerships that has so much energy, it just works perfectly. It gets better every year. I am so excited by how they have taken this partnership and really activated it. It allows us to return so much more for the investment when they are so excited and committed. Black Rock roasts their own coffee right here in Portland and it's unbelievable, no bitter taste. This is a great local company with an amazing product. I promise you this, in five years, you'll be seeing Black Rock Coffee Bars all over the place and coffee drinkers will be so much better for it! You just have to try it to understand it. With all of their Rose Cup-related promotions going this week at their Portland stores and at the track, there is no better time to give it a try."
