[Fot] 2026 Kastner Cup weekend - Race Reports

[yellow04 at tr4racer.com]

Thanks Lorne, we missed you this year!

And way to go Bob Lang is right! Bob made quite the impression with his 
driving on everyone. On a fresh motor he came to the track ready to race 
and showed us how it's done!

Congrats Bob on being the 2026 Kastner Cup Champion!!!

Henry

On 2026-06-25 23:33, Lorne Fritz wrote:

> Henry,  Thanks for the race report for those of us who could not make 
> it.  Way to go Bob Lang.   Lorne Fritz
> 
> On Thu, Jun 25, 2026 at 6:59 PM <yellow04 at tr4racer.com> wrote:
> 
>> Track time was plentiful, 10 sessions plus more if you ran test day.
>> Friday was an easy day, a morning practice session, then an afternoon
>> qualifying session. Unfortunately for Mike Deweerd, his TR8 was out 
>> for
>> the weekend on Friday. This made it a little clearer what to expect up
>> front the rest of the event, with only one TR8 running it was Tim 
>> Cook's
>> time to shine up front. Spoiler alert, he did not disappoint!
>> 
>> Our first special race was the Frank Mount Memorial MG/TR Challenge. 
>> To
>> give you some history, Triumphs have dominated this race for a while
>> now. The Canadians might just be a little bit sore about that fact, 
>> and
>> the rules for the race are always weighted heavily on participation
>> rather than finishing order! This year, they really didn't try to hide
>> their bias, they arranged the starting order as first come, first 
>> served
>> with the MG's taking the first 15 grid spots! Just to be sure we had 
>> it
>> as tough as possible, they put Tim Cook with his TR8 in the race group
>> immediately preceding the MG/TR Challenge race, so his participation
>> would be questionable. Then an added deterrent, the scheduled the 
>> MG/TR
>> Challenge just before the lunch break, and the Kastner Cup just after
>> lunch, so with minimal turnaround time many of our guys chose to sit 
>> out
>> the Challenge race. I am not sure what else they could have done to 
>> us,
>> other than leaving one plug wire off per car!
>> 
>> Waiting for the grid to open, we strategized to put me in the TR250
>> first, Phil Gott and Bob Lang lined up behind me. Also in line were 
>> Greg
>> Thompson, Walt Hollowell, Stewart Wigg and Dave Riddle. I had talked 
>> to
>> Tim Cook, his plan was to run the Challenge race if things went well 
>> in
>> his group race immediately prior. On the MG side, the car to beat was 
>> an
>> MG Midget piloted by the very talented and always fast Nick Pratt. 
>> Nick
>> and I have had some epic David and Goliath battles, Goliath has had 
>> the
>> slight edge in the past and has been victorious.
>> 
>> The race starts with me taking a couple laps to clear the lion's share
>> of the MG's. It seems to me they are doing a great job blocking me in
>> wherever possible, but nobody is so obvious I can cry foul. When I
>> finally get clear track Nick has been doing fast laps by himself, and 
>> I
>> have over 7 seconds to make up. I settle in to the job at hand, and 
>> the
>> gap closes. Then, as I am motoring up the back straight, I see in my
>> mirror a white dot getting bigger! Tim made the race, and he in on the
>> hunt as well! The TR8 blows by me in a flash, and I'm thinking the 
>> good
>> guys have this one in the bag, if time runs out for me at least Tim 
>> will
>> be first. Then two laps later on lap 8, I turn my best lap of the 
>> race,
>> a 1:40.1 and I pass Nick on the back straight. Triumph 1 - 2, and I 
>> keep
>> Tim in my sights as he stays about 3 seconds in front of me for the 
>> last
>> 4 laps.
>> 
>> So it's Tim on the top step of the podium, I come in second and Nick
>> Pratt third. Bob Lang ran 4th overall. So I am not sure how the math
>> worked out for which team won, but I am pretty sure we didn't stand a
>> chance with the schedule effectively benching most of our team. But of
>> course, it doesn't matter, we all had fun and the streak of Triumphs
>> dominating the top spot is unbroken!
>> 
>> Next up, the Kastner Cup race!
>> 
>> Not much to say here other than I started second and finished second. 
>> I
>> was driving the wheels off the car trying to keep up with Tim's TR8, I
>> kept the gap between 1.5 to 3 seconds most of the race. Unfortunately,
>> when Pat Darrow had his little shunt in 1, that caused a waiving 
>> yellow
>> for the rest of the session, and I caught traffic on lap 11 and 12 in
>> the yellow flag zone, so the gap opened up to 5.5 seconds at the end.
>> Tim's comment to me after the race was thanks for keeping him honest, 
>> my
>> comment to him was I thought I had to work way harder than he did, in
>> which he agreed with me! My best lap was a 1:41.19 vs Tim with a
>> 1:40.95, so that made me feel pretty good about the race.
>> 
>> Then on Sunday, the Jack Drews Memorial Race, formerly known as the
>> Reunion Race!
>> 
>> Tim had to get home on Sunday, so was packed up and gone by the time
>> racing started on Sunday. I was on pole, and Jesse Darrow did all he
>> could to keep me honest! I put about a 2.5 second gap on Jesse when 
>> Oily
>> Bob did his thing for the last time, putting a layer of oil up most of
>> the back straight. We reported to the pits and waited a solid half 
>> hour
>> for the track to get cleaned. I was sure we were done, but VARAC
>> announced they were going to let us go green for another 10 minutes!
>> This time it was Jesse driving like a man on a mission, keeping me
>> honest until suddenly, he was gone. In fact, I saw nobody in my 
>> mirrors
>> for the last two laps, upon finishing I see I gapped Chuck Gee in 
>> second
>> place by 14.2 seconds in 6 laps! Thanks for the motivation, Jesse! At
>> the podium, Jesse tried to sneak into Chuck's second place pedestal, 
>> too
>> funny. Apparently, Jesse ran out of fuel! Bob Lang took third.
>> 
>> Finally, my group race!
>> 
>> My bracket, VH3, means don't go faster than a 1:40. For whatever 
>> reason,
>> I happen to run at the bottom of that bracket, a 1:40 is a good time 
>> for
>> me. As such, I do well with the bracket. This year was no different, I
>> finished first in VH3 in the 3 races leading up to the feature race
>> Sunday afternoon. This year we had a bunch of Mustangs that had never
>> run with VARAC before, and for whatever reason they put them with us 
>> in
>> Vintage Historic. Not a great fit, and the one that was always gridded
>> with me had a problem with his fuel cell, he kept dumping gas on 
>> corners
>> at the beginning of the race. It was a slippery situation, to say the
>> least! And it took him several laps to put down a couple of faster 
>> laps
>> than me to be out of my hair. So in the feature, I am coming around 
>> turn
>> 10 finishing up lap 2, and I am too close to the fuel spilling 
>> Mustang.
>> The second place VH3 car, a 911, gets a better run than I do and 
>> passes
>> me going into 1. I fall back behind him and find out he has a bit more
>> straight line speed, but is absolutely hopeless in 1 and 2. For 3 laps 
>> I
>> follow watching closely, figuring out where I am going to get him,
>> hoping I have a shot somewhere other than turn 2, as he is all over 
>> the
>> place and completely unpredictable. It's apparent I am going to have 
>> to
>> man up and do the deed in turn 2, so I give it a go with no joy. The
>> next time around I get next to him at the first apex of turn 2 on the
>> outside and we slide our way down the hill side by side. As we 
>> approach
>> 3, now I have the inside line and he gives it to me. I proceed to 
>> drive
>> it like I stole it, I need to gap him so he doesn't take me on the 
>> back
>> straight. I proceed to put down a great lap, and can barely see the 
>> 911
>> in my rear view mirror. I take the checkered flag knowing I should be
>> golden for another class win, hoping I didn't break out. I hold my
>> breath and at the podium I am given the first place trophy. All good, 
>> I
>> think...
>> 
>> I pull out Speedhive to see I ran a 1:39.2, my best lap ever at 
>> Mosport.
>> I broke out, but Colleen didn't realize at the time! We will see if I
>> get penalized that lap at some point, but I have the hardware!
>> 
>> So that's it, my time as Kastner Cup chair has come to an end. I hope
>> everyone who came enjoyed the experience as much as I do, and I look
>> forward to next year to see how many Triumph racers will now say their
>> June event is Mosport!
>> 
>> Cheers
>> 
>> Henry
>> _______________________________________________
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