Henry, Henry!
What a treat to read your wonderful recap.
Posts like this remind me of the earlier days of FOT.
You Show what it takes to win the Cup.
Knowledge, grit, pace and the ability to explain And embrace the spirit of this
whole deal.
Your win is well deserved in so many ways.
Looking forward to Road America like never before!
Jason Ostrowski
Friendly Ghost Racing
1969 Triumph GT6+ racecars
Sent from my iPhone
> On Jul 19, 2022, at 9:53 AM, yellow04 via Fot <fot@autox.team.net> wrote:
>
> Again, thanks to everybody who came out to the Kastner Cup this past
> weekend, both racers and friends. It was fantastic to spend time with old
> friends and make new ones. While my weekend got much more exciting at the
> Kastner Cup presentation, it still would have been a really great race
> weekend for me had the cards fallen in a different direction with the pick
> for the K-Cup winner.
>
> As I sat on the Grid for the K-Cup race, I am looking at Chris Marks (TR8) on
> pole, Sam Halkius (TR6) on the outside pole, then Joe Carr (Huffaker TR8) and
> my TR250 on the second row. Behind me is the Curt Johnston (Huffaker TR7) and
> Bob "why are they braking 200 feet early?" Lang (TR6). Plus, I realize there
> are several really fast GT6's back there, although circumstances kept the
> Dolan cars from posting times that would put them where they belonged on the
> grid. I'm feeling intimidated, I realize that set of Speedsters under my car
> are going to be working really, really hard keep any kind of pace with this
> crew. The rest of this is by memory, as my camera didn't work...
>
> The race is off to a great start, and somehow I find myself dogging the
> Huffaker TR8. It rained earlier in the day, and the track would best be
> described as "drying, but not quite dry". I realize Joe is driving a
> borrowed, incredibly important, historic car, and is feeling out the corners,
> but for me the grip was there. On the second lap, Joe goes a little hot into
> one of the uphill sweepers, and my six cylinder powers by him on the inside.
> Joe takes the position back exhibiting superior straight line speed, but I
> got him again. If memory serves, we traded places a couple times, I am scored
> in front of the TR8 for laps 3, 4 and 5! As the race wears on, Joe settles in
> and shows us what he and that beautiful TR8 were capable of, and finishes the
> race some 12 seconds in front of me. After the race Joe explains to me what I
> was seeing in his cockpit, his HANS tether was not quite right and he was
> trying to get it sorted while on track!
>
> I am thrilled to finish 4th, the first car not running on grooved slicks.
> Even better, I learn Mark Wheatley, my long-time paddock partner finished
> behind me in 5th in his TR4! Unfortunately for Bob Lang, his car didn't go
> the distance, he pulled in after noticing a temperature spike.
>
> In the reunion race Sunday morning, Sam's TR6 was a no-show, and Chris was
> under strict orders to keep the car in one piece as car owner Peter has a
> pending sale in place. The two TR8's are front row, with me and Curt Johnston
> right behind them. The two TR8's take off, and my rear view mirrors are
> quickly filled with Bob Lang and Brian Dolan's GT6. I am watching the two of
> them battle it out, when Bob gets by me in Turn 3. It does not take long
> before Brian gets by me as well and catches Bob. Now I am watching the two of
> them race each other hard, and I am enjoying the action from the best seat in
> the house. When the two of them are trying to out brake each other in turn 3
> and I see each of them making tire smoke, I realize things are really heating
> up there! Then they are side by side going down into turn 5. Knowing there is
> no way two cars are going to through turn 5 faster than one car can, I lay
> back a little and it unfolds perfectly. I get the run into the corner, am on
> the gas hard tracking out on the preferred line, and can squeeze my way right
> up the middle between the two cars! Thanks for making room guys, that was an
> awesome pass! Bob and Brian continued racing each other so the rest of my
> ride in the reunion race was not heavily contested, and I was pleased to
> finish third behind the two TR8's. As I understand it, Chris had to slow down
> to let his brakes recover, Joe took the overall lead and by the time Chris
> had confidence in his brakes again, he was out of time to mount a comeback.
> He told me he needed one more lap to catch Joe!
>
> A few highlights for me over the course of the weekend include:
>
> The whole scene with Christian Marks flying in from Germany to drive Canadian
> Pete Bulkowski's TR8. These guys know how to have fun while preparing a fast
> race car. Then there was Chris' incredible drive on Saturday morning's Ground
> Pounders group session. It was a very wet track and he literally lapped the
> entire field and the rooster tail shooting up behind the TR8 was so cool!
> Somebody posted some video of that somewhere, maybe somebody can provide a
> link?
>
> Meeting Lyman and Dave running the Baja TR3. Taking one look at the car you
> immediately realized this thing is something special. While it was obvious
> the car was not going to be competitive for race wins on a road course, it
> shows how we still have people who are committed to the Triumph marque, who
> are willing to spend the time and effort to save significant Triumph history,
> and are willing to share that with us in venues like the Kastner Cup. Well
> done Lyman, thanks for your efforts. And well driven Dave, you had a tough
> task in front of you managing the car on a road course. I can't wait to hear
> about the car's next chapter!
>
> I helped out on the K-Cup committee, so seeing how the event unfolded after
> all the planning was kind of cool for me. Curt Johnston did a stellar job,
> and Jim Dolan steered his crew with the PVGP to really make this a special
> event for us. Job well done guys!
>
> Seeing the family teams in action is always cool for me, we had Sean and
> Brendan Alexander, Marty and Jason Sukey, Phil and Dave Gott, Jessie and Pat
> Darrow, and of course the Dolan family. Sorry if I missed anybody!
>
> Hats off to Joe Alexander and his family, while it may look like all this
> just happens, there is a lot of work behind the scenes. Thanks guys.
>
> So next year the race for the Kastner Cup will be at Road America, I can't
> wait! With a full grid of the Mid-west Triumph folk gunning for the Cup, I am
> confident that it will be a spectacular show! I think the smart money will be
> on Friendly Ghost Racing, no pressure Jason! :-)
>
> Henry Frye
> #29 TR250
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