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June 30, 2005
NayKid Racing Bruised But Not Out After June Sprints
ELKHART LAKE, Wisc., June 30, 2005 – Sunday’s June Sprints was no walk in the park for NayKid Racing. The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) T1 class defending champions of the event would take one top-five finish and send two cars away on the flatbed tow truck. In 2004, Cindi Lux (Aloha, Ore.) led teammate Scotty B. White (Puyallup, Wash.) to the checkered flag in a run-a-way NayKid Racing victory at the classic SCCA Club Racing event after White set a new track record and won the pole position.
2005 would be a far different matter. Lux out-qualified teammate Ryan Snodgrass (Kirkland, Wash.) and White with the No. 78 KUMHO Tire/ Forgeline Wheels/ CORSA Exhaust/ Nike Racing/ Moton Shocks Dodge Viper SRT10 and began to pull away at the green flag. Only seconds later Snodgrass got rear-ended into the concrete wall in Turn One. Lux, then in turn six, got pancaked into cement wall while trying to avoid a car reentering the track after it had lost control. Both were out of the race. White would continue on to finish fifth in T1 with his No. 3 KUMHO Tire/ Forgeline Wheels/ CORSA Exhaust/ Moton Shocks Dodge Viper SRT10. For Lux and Snodgrass it marked the first DNF (Did Not Finish) in over 50 races spanning the past two years in NayKid Racing machines.
Snodgrass sustained no serious injury in part due to the use of the HANS head and neck system. Lux, however, suffered two broken ribs on her left side and some pulled ligaments as a result of the hard impact with the retaining wall on the driver-side of her car. Both the No. 78 Dodge Viper SRT10 of Lux and the No. 75 KUMHO Tires/ Suburban Chevrolet Corvette of Snodgrass suffered serious damage in their separate impacts. The two NayKid entries were shipped to Michigan where they are currently undergoing extensive repairs to be ready for NayKid Racing’s next scheduled event at Watkins Glen International on July 10th. Lux is continuing her rehabilitation in the Portland suburb of Aloha, Ore.
Developing the new KUMHO Tire/ Forgeline Wheels/ CORSA Exhaust/ Moton Shocks Dodge Viper SRT10s for competition in the T1 class continues to take time. However, a recent SCCA rules break gave the team out of the Northwest new hope to again win their divisions for the season. While the car was considerably more responsive to setup changes and is utilizing the strong KUMHO rubber more, it continues to suffer in straight-line speed due to a 40% air restrictor on the V10 powerplant. The lack of horsepower is especially important at tracks like Road America’s 4.048-mile course. The Fred Lux-prepared cars will continue to be developed with an eye towards a return to NayKid Racing’s traditional domination of the production car-based class in 2006.
Quotes:
Cindi Lux: “Meeting my teammate in the in field medical care center really isn’t something I want to do again! It’s either bitter or sweet for us at the June Sprints. What a ghastly weekend for the team. But one thing is for sure, the Viper SRT is one tough car! NayKid Racing is not used to results like this past weekend but we will be back stronger than ever. What this has done is get the entire team more fired up, if that possible, to get our Vipers to the front. Just got to keep digging and digging and digging until we get there. I know we will be back.”
Scotty B. White: “What a brutal weekend for the NayKid Team. Showing up as defending champions and going home with a fifth, two banged-up cars and an injured driver is likely the lowest point ever for us. Between the 40% restrictor on the Vipers and the dumb-ass moves of two other drivers, we are left with a pretty poor result. I can tell you one thing though, this team is more determined than ever to overcome all this and return to our winning ways. The Dodge guys helped us all weekend to find speed and the KUMHO Tires had that Ecsta bite we need for the Vipers. Now we just need the SCCA to dump these restrictors so we can compete, we’ll stop repainting the cars every weekend from all the hammering they are taking running in the back!”
Posted by ryan at 09:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 05, 2005
NayKid Racing Posts Two One-Two's In Seattle
Puyallup, Wash., June 5, 2005 - Scotty B. White (Puyallup, Wash.) was holding his confidence in check when he arrived at his local track, Seattle's Pacific Raceways, last weekend. The 2004 Rocky Mountaind Division SCCA T1 class champion had a new Dodve Viper SRT10 under him that has been experiencing teething pains in the opening rounds of NayKid Racing's season in T1 class of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). when the dust had settled, White and teammate Cindi Lux (Aloha, Ore.) walked away with a win apiece in the two-event weekend in the NayKid Racing KUMHO Tire / Forgeline Wheels / Moton Schocks Dodge Viper SRT10s. Capping the weekend was teammate Ryan Snodgrass (Kirkland, Wash.) who impressed by posting some of the fastest laps of his young career.
Snodgrass out-qualified his more experienced teammates in the first race of the weekend, sitting second on the grid with White third and Lux fourth. While Snodgrass was hit by another competitor damaging his NayKid entry, White went on to win the first T1 race of the weekend on Saturday. The technical Pacific Raceways road course played to the strengths of the stock Viper and the expert driving experience of Lux and White. They went on the attack and took one-two in the running order at the checkered flag with White's No. 3 stretching across the start-finish line first.
In race two, Lux, the 2004 NorPac Divisional T1 Champion, turned up the heat even more. She posted the fast lap in qualifying to set the No. 78 KUMHO Viper on the pole while Snodgrass again had a strong qualifying run in his Suburban Chevrolet / Corsa / Kodiak Wheels / KUMHO ride replicating his first race with a second quick time. White was right behind in third. The trio stayed that way through the event, with Snodgrass alling off the podium to fourth, due to a pit stop. Lux and White ran to the finish taking the checkered flag one-two for a second time in as many races.
Celebrating the success of the weekend was welcome. Even more welcom, and encouraging, is that this was done with the stock suspension that SCCA rules had required the Vipers to run. However, as of this week, the SCCA technical committee has ruled that, in light of the modifications granted to other cars in the class, Dodge's V10-powered car would be given an equal upgrade to its suspension.
The opportunit for success at the class's biggest events - including the upcoming Rose Cup at Portland, June Sprints at Road America, and Runoffs at Mid-Ohio at the end of the season - has grown substantially with the SCCA's decision. NayKid Racing will have the new suspension, as well as other approved or required modifications, made entering the Rose Cup events on June 8-10th.
Quotes:
Scotty B. White: "Boy, it was nice to run at the home track with all the friends and family there! It must have really had an effect on Ryan because he was multiple seconds faster this year. We had a good run. We've been working hard for this and that effort is really starting to pay off. I can't wait to get the T1 suspension package SCCA finally allowed us for Rose Cup. Now the hard work really starts. Trying to get these smokin' SRT10 hot rods up front for Rose Cup and Sprints!"
Cindi Lux: "Pacific Raceways is such a classic race track of the '60's. It's super fast and the risk factors are huge for car and driver. My teammate Ryan must be drinking triple shot espresso's before qualifying because he is getting super quick! Only .01 [seconds] off my pole time for the second race! Our new Viper SRT10's sure do get the attention from all the fans and spectators which is pretty cool. One of the unbeatable things about these Vipers is how low maintenance they are. Truly a 'gas and go' race car. They're impressive."
Posted by ryan at 10:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
