Laguna Seca: NayKid Racing race report

NayKid Celebration - White Earns 8th, Lux Top Rookie in World Challenge Finale

NayKid Racing Takes Season Best Finishes in SPEED GT at Monterey Sport Car Races

MONTEREY, Calif., October 23, 2007 - NayKid Racing used the season-ending SPEED World Challenge GT race to give notice that the Dodge Viper Competition Coupes from the Northwest were again a force to be reckoned with. The driving pair of Cindi Lux (Aloha, Ore.) and Scotty B. White (Lake Tapps, Wash.) scored their highest finishes of the season on Sunday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. White recorded his season-high with an eighth-place finish in the No. 3 Corsa Performance/Forgeline Dodge Viper Comp. Coupe after an exciting battle around the Monterey, Calif. track. It was the highest finish of the year for NayKid Racing. Lux would match her previous best result by finishing 11th in the No. 2 Dodge/Mintex Brakes/MOMO Dodge Viper Comp. Coupe despite gearbox problems throughout the weekend. The Laguna Seca round also earned Lux her second Piloti Rookie of the Race- awarded to the highest finish rookie driver- of the season; the first coming at Salt Lake City.

White, who has fought bad luck and bad weather in the past two events, was able to leap from a best, season finish of 13th to eighth with the weekend's performance. He started 13th and showed strength from the drop of the green flag until his progress was slowed by a Corvette. While the Viper Comp. Coupe closed on the slower V8-powered machine through the turns, the heavily rules-restricted Viper could not power past on the straights. White's constant bombardment eventually moved the white, orange and blue Viper through. White went on a tear to catch the leaders but, while he would cut into the difference significantly, he was unable to completely catch the leading pack in the limited time left. The result gives the Washington-resident his seventh career World Challenge top-10, his first since 2001. The four-time SCCA Club Racing T1 champion has one World Challenge victory (Molson Indy, 1999) to his credit.

Making the performance of White's V10-powered machine even more impressive is the extensive repairs that were required after a sudden downpour catapulted the No. 3 and three other machines into a concrete wall at Road Atlanta two weeks ago. The time was so short and the workload so heavy that for a short time crew chief Fred Lux (Aloha, Ore.) questioned if it would be completed in time for Thursday's first on-track session at the 2.238-mile, 11- turn circuit. However, the dedicated team of NayKid Racing mechanics put in the extra hours giving new breath to the fire-breathing, front-engine, American supercar in time to make the first practice. True to his form, White put aside any concerns and immediately attacked the track knowing the work had been done right by his NayKid crew.

Lux had her own struggles at Laguna Seca. A faulty gearbox hampered every effort she made to put in a quick time early in the weekend. Eventually that box would be replaced with a new but less performance- oriented street-based transmission for qualifying and the race. Lux's knowledge of the track allowed her to sneak in the 17th quick time in qualifying. The World Challenge standing-start stresses the driver and machines at every venue. However, on Laguna Seca's uphill straightaway the massive torque unraveled through the Dodge's rear wheels can melt lesser machines. Despite the slower manual transmission Lux got a self-described 'best start of her career'. By turn two she had gained four positions. Despite suffering with the slower gear changes from the stock Dodge Viper six-speed manual, especially between the critical second and third gear changes, Lux concentrated on being precise. By the end of the race she narrowly trailed tenth-place by less than half a car length but ran out of time in the one hour show to take the spot.

Cindi Lux, Driver, No. 2: "Finishing the race in 11th position, considering I started in 17th, is something I can live with over the winter. Losing my dog box transmission in practice and having to run a stock gearbox for the race really required a lot of patience because you have to shift so slowly. I just put my head down and drove the wheels off my Viper. There was nothing left of that car at the end of the race and it did fantastic. It's been an intense learning year for me and the entire team but I know people now realize that NayKid Racing will be a team they need to keep an eye on next year."

Scotty B. White, Driver, No. 3: "What a swell way to end our season. I really felt we had been starting to find the speed with these awesome Dodge Vipers beginning with Mosport but the weather kept dealing us a bad hand. We weren't able to showcase what this team has been able to accomplish. I feel terrible for Cindi since she was having gearbox troubles; otherwise I know she would have been right there in the mix with me. I am kind of bummed I got held up for so long by the Corvette that was so stinking fast down the straight. While I worked on that the pack of Caddies and other Vipers got away from me. We were able to run them back down after getting by the Corvette and just needed a few more laps to get by the two Caddies. All in all a really fun race and a great accomplishment for the team. I am so proud of these guys and how hard they worked to get this number 3 hot rod back on track after the Atlanta crash!"

-credit: nkr