Cindi Lux Back Behind the Wheel After Intensive Knee Rehab The Memorial Day weekend is one to honor those men and women who have fallen to protect this great country. Since the holiday's inception following World War I, it has also become synonymous with speed. Indy car fans have the Indianapolis 500, stock car fans have NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte and sports car fans have Lime Rock Park. This weekend, Lux Performance Group will join that tradition of professional sports car racing on the Lakeville, Connecticut road course by entering two American drivers in a pair of America's supercar, the Dodge Viper ACR-X, for America's oldest road racing series, Trans Am - billed as "America's Road Racing Series". The May 23 race, the second of the Oregon-based team's 2015 "Return to the Road Tour", features Cindi Lux (Aloha, Oregon) in the No. 45 Lux Performance Group Dodge Viper ACR-X and Steve Streimer (Sherwood, Oregon) piloting the No. 42 Viper.
Cindi Lux returns to competition in the No. 45 Dodge Viper ACR-X. At only 1.5-miles and seven-turns, Lime Rock Park may not be the most complex race circuit, the most technically challenging or even the most physically demanding, but it's intense. INTENSE! Lux and Streimer will have their work cut out for them. The Lime Rock track is tight. It is the closest thing to a Saturday night short track "bull ring" that sports car racers get in this country. A lap is blindingly quick and the seven-turns come neatly packed into the back section of the track with the speed coming from the long pit lane straightaway. It requires significant mental focus over the course of Saturday afternoon's 75-minute/67-lap, Next Dimension 100. Any let down of attention in the field of 25 TA/TA3 class cars could result in a lost position... or worse. For both Lux and Streimer, this will be the first visit to the historic track in the Northeast. Both have been heavily involved in learning the ins-and-outs as best they can through simulators, online video and conversation with other drivers.
For 12-time road racing champion Cindi Lux, the trip to Lime Rock also carries the weight of her first time to be competitively in a racecar since 2014. The former Dodge/Mopar and SRT factory driver was ready to join her teammate/student Streimer at the team's season-opener in Homestead-Miami earlier this year when she tore the meniscus in her left knee. Extensive rehab - every day for over four hours a day - resulted in her return for this weekend's race. No easy task and one that has impressed her doctors and trainers. The return shows Lux's passionate desire to compete.
Steve Streimer is look to be two-for-two in Trans Am.
For Streimer, the rookie driver making his first foray into professional motorsports this year, the weekend is an exciting return as well. In his Trans Am debut at Homestead, he took the Lux Performance-prepped No. 42 to the TA3i class race victory. The strong performance came with heavy team support, the engineering expertise of veteran Fred Lux and over the phone coaching from Cindi. Streimer drove masterfully to capture the team's first Trans Am victory in its first attempt.
CBS Sports Network will broadcast the Next Dimension 100 at Lime Rock Park on Saturday, June 6, beginning at Noon, Eastern Time. Live timing and scoring is available at www.GoTransAm.com .Fred Lux, Lux Performance Group Team Principal:
"I haven't been to Lime Rock in probably twenty years so it'll be like going for the first time for me. Neither of our drivers has ever even set foot in the place so we'll have our hands full with a couple of rookies. This track reminds me of an old school, bullring style of racing. Really, Bristol is the Lime Rock of stock car racing. It's a balance of being aggressive but also showing patience and maturity as well. Can that happen with a couple of first-timers?"
Cindi Lux, Lux Performance Group Driver:
About racing at Lime Rock:
"I can't think of a better way to spend Memorial Day Weekend than racing in one of the oldest and longest-standing series in this great country and do it at a track in one of the original 13 states. Just toss in the smell of brake pads, sounds of a V10 American-built motor and a hotdog and life will be great. That's All-American!"
About knee rehab:
"It's been a long few weeks. I am certainly ready to jump in the Viper and see what happens. I had to find a balance of not over working the leg in therapy and being a slacker at the gym! It's a tough thing to do when you want to do everything you can to get back in the racecar but everything I could do also meant not destroying the knee."
About Trans Am - The Trans Am Series, America's Road Racing Series, began igniting the passion of motorsports fans across the world in 1966 and has been home to some of the greatest names in road racing. Today, Trans Am continues to honor its legacy, while challenging the status quo in racing, through meaningful racing platforms and a driver-oriented focus. The Trans Am Series is operated by The Trans Am Race Company, LLC (TARC), through a five-year agreement in which TARC oversees the management and marketing of the Trans Am Series. SCCA Pro Racing sanctions Trans Am events and provides operations services to the Series.
See more about the Lux Performance Group's 2015 season at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PDB6AF90Gc&feature=youtu.be
