Subject: [Fot] Chris's Rooster Tail

From: Dave Riddle via Fot <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2022 08:39:13 -0700

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Lyman's wife, Tonya, shot the video with her phone of Chris's rooster tail =
in the rain. I posted it to my FB page, messaged it to Chris and he posted =
it on his FB page too!

I'll be posting a highlight/lowlight reel in a little bit of our sessions

-----Original Message-----
From: Fot [mailto:[email-masked]] On Behalf Of yellow04 via Fot
Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2022 7:36 AM
To: [email-masked]
Subject: SPAM-LOW: [Fot] Race Recap, from the yellow TR250

Again, thanks to everybody who came out to the Kastner Cup this past=20
weekend, both racers and friends. It was fantastic to spend time with=20
old friends and make new ones. While my weekend got much more exciting=20
at the Kastner Cup presentation, it still would have been a really great=20
race weekend for me had the cards fallen in a different direction with=20
the pick for the K-Cup winner.

As I sat on the Grid for the K-Cup race, I am looking at Chris Marks=20
(TR8) on pole, Sam Halkius (TR6) on the outside pole, then Joe Carr=20
(Huffaker TR8) and my TR250 on the second row. Behind me is the Curt=20
Johnston (Huffaker TR7) and Bob "why are they braking 200 feet early?"=20
Lang (TR6). Plus, I realize there are several really fast GT6's back=20
there, although circumstances kept the Dolan cars from posting times=20
that would put them where they belonged on the grid. I'm feeling=20
intimidated, I realize that set of Speedsters under my car are going to=20
be working really, really hard keep any kind of pace with this crew. The=20
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=20
Huffaker TR8. It rained earlier in the day, and the track would best be=20
described as "drying, but not quite dry". I realize Joe is driving a=20
borrowed, incredibly important, historic car, and is feeling out the=20
corners, but for me the grip was there. On the second lap, Joe goes a=20
little hot into one of the uphill sweepers, and my six cylinder powers=20
by him on the inside. Joe takes the position back exhibiting superior=20
straight line speed, but I got him again. If memory serves, we traded=20
places a couple times, I am scored in front of the TR8 for laps 3, 4 and=20
5! As the race wears on, Joe settles in and shows us what he and that=20
beautiful TR8 were capable of, and finishes the race some 12 seconds in=20
front of me. After the race Joe explains to me what I was seeing in his=20
cockpit, his HANS tether was not quite right and he was trying to get it=20
sorted while on track!

I am thrilled to finish 4th, the first car not running on grooved=20
slicks. Even better, I learn Mark Wheatley, my long-time paddock partner=20
finished behind me in 5th in his TR4! Unfortunately for Bob Lang, his=20
car didn't go the distance, he pulled in after noticing a temperature=20
spike.

In the reunion race Sunday morning, Sam's TR6 was a no-show, and Chris=20
was under strict orders to keep the car in one piece as car owner Peter=20
has a pending sale in place. The two TR8's are front row, with me and=20
Curt Johnston right behind them. The two TR8's take off, and my rear=20
view mirrors are quickly filled with Bob Lang and Brian Dolan's GT6. I=20
am watching the two of them battle it out, when Bob gets by me in Turn=20
3. It does not take long before Brian gets by me as well and catches=20
Bob. Now I am watching the two of them race each other hard, and I am=20
enjoying the action from the best seat in the house. When the two of=20
them are trying to out brake each other in turn 3 and I see each of them=20
making tire smoke, I realize things are really heating up there! Then=20
they are side by side going down into turn 5. Knowing there is no way=20
two cars are going to through turn 5 faster than one car can, I lay back=20
a little and it unfolds perfectly. I get the run into the corner, am on=20
the gas hard tracking out on the preferred line, and can squeeze my way=20
right up the middle between the two cars! Thanks for making room guys,=20
that was an awesome pass! Bob and Brian continued racing each other so=20
the rest of my ride in the reunion race was not heavily contested, and I=20
was pleased to finish third behind the two TR8's. As I understand it,=20
Chris had to slow down to let his brakes recover, Joe took the overall=20
lead and by the time Chris had confidence in his brakes again, he was=20
out of time to mount a comeback. He told me he needed one more lap to=20
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=20
Canadian Pete Bulkowski's TR8. These guys know how to have fun while=20
preparing a fast race car. Then there was Chris' incredible drive on=20
Saturday morning's Ground Pounders group session. It was a very wet=20
track and he literally lapped the entire field and the rooster tail=20
shooting up behind the TR8 was so cool! Somebody posted some video of=20
that somewhere, maybe somebody can provide a link?

Meeting Lyman and Dave running the Baja TR3. Taking one look at the car=20
you immediately realized this thing is something special. While it was=20
obvious the car was not going to be competitive for race wins on a road=20
course, it shows how we still have people who are committed to the=20
Triumph marque, who are willing to spend the time and effort to save=20
significant Triumph history, and are willing to share that with us in=20
venues like the Kastner Cup. Well done Lyman, thanks for your efforts.=20
And well driven Dave, you had a tough task in front of you managing the=20
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=20
after all the planning was kind of cool for me. Curt Johnston did a=20
stellar job, and Jim Dolan steered his crew with the PVGP to really make=20
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=20
Brendan Alexander, Marty and Jason Sukey, Phil and Dave Gott, Jessie and=20
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=20
this just happens, there is a lot of work behind the scenes. Thanks=20
guys.

So next year the race for the Kastner Cup will be at Road America, I=20
can't wait! With a full grid of the Mid-west Triumph folk gunning for=20
the Cup, I am confident that it will be a spectacular show! I think the=20
smart money will be on Friendly Ghost Racing, no pressure Jason! :-)

Henry Frye
#29 TR250
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