Cindi Lux Looks to Earn Mopar Comp. Coupe
Season-Best at Important Atlanta Finale History
BRASELTON, Ga., September 29, 2008 - Cindi
Lux (Aloha, Ore.) has always risen to the
challenge at premier events and the Petit Le
Mans SPEED World Challenge GT is among the elite
sports car races of the season. By any criteria
the October 3, midday race is a major event. It
is contested on one of the quickest tracks in
North America, Road Atlanta. It supports the
world renowned Petit Le Mans and it is the 2008
season-finale for the Sports Car Club of America
(SCCA) SPEED World Challenge GT.
All-in- all, Friday's 50-minute event shines
one of the brightest spotlights that Team Mopar
will race under all season and the 12-time road
racing champion could not be any happier. After
racing a partial season with impressive results,
Lux has marked the Petit Le Mans weekend as the
time to put her No. 2 Team Mopar Dodge Viper
Competition Coupe on the SPEED GT podium.
While the on-track competition is always
intense in the road car-based series, meeting
Lux's goal was made much more difficult at the
first turn of the second lap in last Saturday's
(Millville) New Jersey Motorsports Park event.
The 2000 American Le Mans Series Women's Global
GT Series Champion had a strong qualifying run
in New Jersey to start tenth.
The No. 2 Mopar Dodge Viper Comp. Coupe was
under braking for the second of 14-turns at the
new facility when an over- aggressive
out-braking maneuver by a competitor would take
the Viper off course. Lux, now pushed off the
track into the dirt and debris, had heavy damage
to the Lux Performance Group LLC-prepared ride.
Included in the tally was a damaged front
splitter - an aerodynamic device used to
generate downforce - and the right front wheel
which was bent and toed-out excessively. Despite
now being dead-last on course, the World
Challenge sophomore returned to the track with
her "never give up" attitude.
She refused to make a pit stop instead
relying on years of experience to diagnose and
then overcome the handling maladies that
resulted from the brutal, blindside blow. With a
machine many would have retired on the spot, Lux
fought from last in the field to just outside
the top 10 to take 12th less than 50 minutes
later.
ux's dogged determination, shown so clearly
at New Jersey, will be required of the whole
Mopar team as they turn-around the seriously
damaged American supercar in time for this
week's finale. In total, the team has
approximately 48 hours to ready the car for the
first on-track sessions at Road Atlanta.
To-date, the only road racing member of the
elite Team Mopar has a season-high finish of
fifth, earned at Salt Lake City. However, the
2.54-mile, 12-turn Road Atlanta facility has
long been a favorite of Lux. To extract the last
tenth of a second from the V10- powered Mopar
machine the track encourages aggressive but very
precise and skilled driving. In 2007, her first
time racing the World Challenge here, she nearly
took a top-five finish in a rain-soaked event.
Lux did earn a top-five in the Petit Le Mans GT2
class in 2000 after making her first appearance
in the prestigious race in 1999 with an all
female driver lineup.
Lux will took time out of race preparations
of the No. 2 Mopar Viper to visit West Hall High
School in Oakwood, Ga. on Monday. She premiered
her "Quick Tips on Winning in Life" to a group
of 120 students at the area high school as part
of the "Racers Who Care" (www.MySpace.com/RacersWhoCare)
program. Lux presented her vision on what it
takes to "win" in life with a focus on
education, character and a positive attitude;
all aspects of Lux's character well demonstrated
during her career.
The final round of the 2008 SPEED GT
championship can be seen on SPEED Channel at 1
PM (ET), October 15. Live timing and scoring can
be found at:
www.World-Challenge.com.
Cindi Lux: About Atlanta: "Road Atlanta is
one of my favorite tracks. It really suits my
style. I have had a lot of success there
including my first race in an American Le Mans
Series GT car at Petit Le Mans in '99. In 2000,
I earned my highest ALMS finish taking a
top-five at Petit and last year we had a great
World Challenge race there. I am really excited
to get out there this week and close the year on
a good note for everyone at Mopar and Chrysler."
About New Jersey: "It's such a disappointment
when an overly aggressive move on the second lap
by another driver ends our day for another
possible Top 10 finish. I guess the Team Mopar
Dodge Comp. Coupe was collateral damage in that
one. It is doubly bad for us because the turn-
around between New Jersey and Atlanta is so
short. Looking back now, it is one of those
deals that you shake your head and wonder what
he was thinking. I wasn't coming into the pits
unless we overheated or the wheels came off the
car. This is really a testament to how well
Dodge and Mopar build these cars and how strong
those Forgeline wheels are. I don't know too
many other race cars that could take a hit like
that, hold together and go from dead last to
12th in less than 50 minutes. It is great to be
associated with a product like that! We have all
the Mopar parts we need so we'll go hunting at
Atlanta."
Sunil Lahoti, Senior Manager - Mopar
Marketing and Brand Strategy, Chrysler LLC.: "We
couldn't be happier that Cindi will represent
Mopar at such a significant event as the
season-finale race at Road Atlanta. Following a
great qualifying run in New Jersey, she
unfortunately was hit going into turn one on the
second lap. Even with severe damage on her No. 2
Mopar Dodge Viper, her 'never-say-die' attitude
got her back on track and she made it to the
checkered flag. That's the racing spirit our
enthusiasts expect from our factory-backed Mopar
drivers."
70 Years of Mopar
When Chrysler bought Dodge in 1928, the need for
a dedicated parts manufacturer, supplier and
distribution system to support the growing
enterprise led to the formation of the Chrysler
Motor Parts Corporation (CMPC) in 1929.
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. It was also widely used as a moniker for
the CMPC. The Mopar brand made its mark in the
1960s-the muscle car era. The Chrysler
Corporation built race-ready Dodge and Plymouth
"package cars" equipped with special
high-performance parts. Mopar carried a line of
"Special Parts" for super stock drag racers and
developed its racing parts division called Mopar
Performance Parts to enhance speed and handling
for both road and racing use.
Today, Chrysler LLC's Global Service & Parts
division is responsible for the manufacturing
and distribution of nearly 250,000 authentic
Mopar replacement parts, components, restoration
parts, accessories and performance parts 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.
Information on Cindi Lux is at
www.CindiLux.com
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