[Fot] Chris's Rooster Tail

Tue Jul 19 11:12:36 MDT 2022

Wow, that sounds and looks AWESOME!

- TOny

On 7/19/2022 10:39 AM, Dave Riddle via Fot wrote:
> 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:fot-bounces at autox.team.net] On Behalf Of yellow04 via Fot
> Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2022 7:36 AM
> To: fot at autox.team.net
> Subject: SPAM-LOW: [Fot] Race Recap, from the yellow TR250
>
> 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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