Aloha, Oregon, April 12, 2022 | Lux Performance Group has been gone from the National Trans Am by Pirelli championship since 2019 but that is all about to change. Two years racing around the West Coast is enough and Cindi Lux is ready to be back on the road. Competitors and fans of the 14-time road racing champion have been warned: Lux Performance Group is packing the overnight bag for a seven race national tour. The Aloha, Oregon driver will bring the No. 45 Black Rock Coffee Bar/Lux Performance Group Dodge Viper ACR-X "Coffee Machine" back onto the main stage in the SGT class with a second V10 American classic, the No. 35 Dodge Viper ACR-X, also fielded by Lux Performance Group for longtime client Dirk Leuenberger (Redmond, Washington).
The fans will see the team start out the season with back-to-back races in California. They will compete at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (April 22 – 24), Sonoma Raceway (April 30 – May 1), the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (June 23 – 26), Road America (July 1 – 3), Watkins Glen International (September 7 – 11), VIRginia International Raceway (October 6 – 9) and the season-closing round at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), November 4 – 6.
The Fred and Cindi Lux-owned operation has been off the national stage since 2019. Covid restrictions kept the Aloha, Oregon-based preparation shop from racing in 2020. In 2021, the veteran Viper program raced four times in the Trans Am West Coast Championship Presented by Pirelli with the two team cars capturing four pole positions, four wins, two second-places, one third-place finish, seven podiums and two track records.
Think the team is a bunch of homers with provincial dominance? Think again. Since joining Trans Am in 2015, Lux Performance has won over 50 percent of the 30 races it has entered, racked-up 13 pole positions and six track records. Cindi Lux earned the TA3 Northern Cup SGT Championship in 2018.
With a 28-year pedigree of winning, Lux Performance Group will not only field the pair of Vipers in the SGT class, but the program will also oversee multiple SVRA entries as well. Beyond the car prep of some of the world’s most storied historic race cars, Cindi Lux brings her no-BS coaching style to maximize client performance behind the wheel of those vintage machines.
Like Lux, longtime marketing partner Black Rock Coffee Bar continues to break into new markets around the country. The 12-year Black Rock-Lux partnership will again spread the “Fuel Your Story” philosophy into its second decade of collaboration and growth with motorsport as its message machine.
Live coverage of every Trans Am race will be streamed to https://www.youtube.com/TheTransAmSeries/live. Tape delay broadcasts will be found on CBS Sports.
Fred Lux, Principal/Head Creative Engineer, Lux Performance Group | "As we all know, Laguna Seca is Spanish for ‘Dry Lagoon’ and hopefully it will be refilled this race weekend with the tears of our competitors. Cindi has been training hard with her personal corkscrew… often two or three times daily."
Cindi Lux, Driver, No. 45 Lux Performance Group Dodge Viper ACR-X Coffee Machine | "We gave everyone two years to race without us breathing down their necks. We have the oldest cars in our class and probably one of the few that still have a manual transmission. No paddle shifting for us. Old school, baby. However, that’s what I love about them. We just work hard to squeeze more speed out of them every year."
Watkins Glen, New York, May 17, 2016 | Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these racers from the swift completion of their appointed laps. That paraphrase of the Postman’s Creed might make it to an inspirational wall at Lux Performance Group’s shop in Aloha, Oregon after the May 15 Classic Tube 100. The Watkins Glen (New York) International round of the Trans Am Series’ 50th season was the 2016 debut for the two-car Viper ACR-X program and it was no easy opener. The weekend saw temperatures barely breaking the 40s and overcast conditions giving way to rain and snow. Combined with an electrical gremlin in the cars and Cindi Lux (Aloha, Oregon), driving the No. 45 Lux Performance Group Dodge, and Steve Streimer (Sherwood, Oregon) in the No. 42 Viper’s had their hands full. Nevertheless, the pair fought all the elements and the field to finish second (Lux) and third (Streimer) at the conclusion of the 100-mile race.
The weekend got off on a harsh note. With little on-track time scheduled for the TA3 machines, a newly paved “Glen” and unseasonably cold weather the challenge was tough enough for the pair of drivers and the Fred Lux-led squad. However, matters grew much worse when an electronics issue significantly cut the horsepower of the V10-engines beyond even the mandated restrictor prescribed by Trans Am.
After a poor qualifying effort of fifth and sixth, Cindi and Steve had their work cut out for them. Both Lux Performance drivers are well known for their racecraft and Streimer followed Cindi through the field with a focus on keeping their red and black American supercars clear of carnage. As competitors began to give-way, the Nos. 45 and 42 moved steadily up. Even as a heavy snow began to pound the windshields in the closing laps, the front-engine machines stayed a true course ultimately finishing second and third. The first race of the season and the first podium.
Quotes |
Fred Lux, Lux Performance Group Team Principal | “Never in our wildest dreams when we began the day, did I think we would end up with a double podium. It's a solid lesson of never giving up. No matter what the racing gods send your direction, just keep digging. Seriously, everything seemed to be thrown at us. The black cloud that was over us all weekend finally shifted away during the race. Cindi and Steve drove a smart race. Even though it wasn’t our best result on track, it was probably the most satisfying and rewarding.”
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