[Fot] Kastner Cup at Summit Point

[Scott Janzen]

I've been tasked with writing about the Kastner Cup for the VRG newsletter (this was a VRG event), so I'm going to add to the info that's been offered so far as a way of starting to write that article.  I could also use some stories from the Spitfire racers in Group 4 and the TR3 guys in Group 5.

First, some stats:
there were 43 Triumphs and a Triumph-powered Peerless at the track.
Herald - 1
Spitfire - 13
TR4 - 9
GT6 - 8
TR6 - 6
TR250 - 2
TR3 - 3
TR7 - 1
Running in the Cup - 32 cars.  A damp track, family schedules, prior incidents (one Spitfire lost) and mechanicals cut into the Cup turn-out.  The Cup itself had probably the dampest conditions of the weekend - the sky started spitting Sunday morning just as the race started, and the lap time for the leader - Mike Munson - was down nine seconds from his best the day before, to a 1:35.  By lap four, the wet conditions worsened and led to Boyd Wagner dropping two wheels into the grass exiting turn eight on the uphill (a fast corner) and backing up onto the tire wall.  Only minor damage to the car, but they black flagged the session.   Three of us, including yours truly, who was following Dick Stockton in his wicked fast TR4, with Jerry Barker suddenly appearing in my rear view mirrors, missed the black flags prior to pit in and continued to race.  Oops.  We got to sit in the pits for the balance of the race.  Dick and I have raced here many times and should have known better - we know where every flag station is - so I think we got what we deserved.

For me, other than the idiot factor, it almost didn't matter.  This was a fantastic race weekend - we all had lots of track time - I had nine sessions on track, and that's with skipping the last race on Sunday, and not running the two enduros.

Group 3 was almost all TRs - there were 31 cars, and the only non-Triumphs were a Europa, a Daimler SP250 and a fast Lotus Elan which was the only car that could match Mike Munson.  So, for Group 3 it was the Kastner Cup all weekend - all the big TRs and the GT6s were in that group.  My understanding is that Sam Halkias was battling carb float and jet issues, and was generally a little off Mike's pace, though still faster than the rest of us.  Generally, other than the leaders - the Lotus, Sam, Mike and Dick Stockton - the next 8-10 cars were separated by a second a lap over the whole bunch, and sometimes much less.  So, there was fantastic, competitive racing, and mostly beautiful weather other than the massive thunderstorm right on schedule for the original Kastner time slot on Saturday afternoon.  Even on Sunday, it dried out an hour after the Cup and Group 3 - those of us who went out - had one of the most competitive races of the weekend, with Henry Frye in the screaming yellow 250 trading places with Mark Wheatley's TR4 a number of times.

Socially, it was great!  Probably 35+ were paddocked together in the grass around a big tent canopy - the others elected to scatter  - and the canopy was a gathering point all weekend.  Joe Alexander and Kas were based there, we had some eye candy in the form of a couple of tribute cars (photos below, though not from the weekend) and two Triumph vendors with some fun shiny parts to look at.  The Western Pa Triumph Association sponsored the canopy - thanks, guys!- and we had a barbecue with about 170 people there Friday night.  Beer was consumed (almost two kegs) and it was a great time for the street car club members who came to spectate, racers, friends and family to get together.  Street Triumphs were all over the place most of the weekend with a strong showing from some of the clubs in the region.

History flowed - one of the prior owners of my car was there, as was a former GT6 racer who competed against my car at this track in the 1970s and knew/knows its then-owner well.  I got some great bits of history, and I'm sure others had similar experiences.  For me, that's part of what vintage racing is all about.

Photos - Bill Stoler was the event photographer and will be publishing images on his website www.billstoler.com , including that group photo shoot of all the Triumphs lined up on the main straight Thursday evening. I just checked - that one is there, but none of the race photos are on the site yet.

Shawn Frank (editor for Spitfire and GT6 magazine) also took photos (about 3,000!) and will be sending us all a link in the next few days.

John Clancy was here from England doing a video documentary on Triumphs, so we'll see that at some point.

Please, anyone who can fill in the gaps on racing in group 4 and 5, do so!  I need stories!  

Special thanks go to Clark Lincoln for the poster and tee shirt artwork.

Lastly, I'd like to thank Jim Hassall, who did the tough job of getting the tee shirts made and sold, and collecting money for the BBQ.

thanks again, 
Scott


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