Kastner Cup 2013

The Kastner Cup is an annual race specifically for Triumphs and Triumph powered cars. It is held at a different track every year and has been that way since 2003. There are no points earned, no championship standings, and no money won. Yet it is a prestigious vintage race and the cup is a coveted trophy that every Triumph vintage racer wants. The trophy can not be won by the same person two years consecutively. The determination of the winner of the Kastner Cup is not solely based on track performance. That is only half of the decision. The other half is based on car presentation and spirit towards vintage racing. The decision is made by none other than Kas Kastner himself.

This year’s Kastner Cup was held at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI. The grid consisted of four TR3s, thirteen TR4s, two TR4As, two TR250s (including the famous Peter Brock and Kas Kastner created TR250K that started in the back even though he qualified for the front row in a gentleman-like gesture), three TR6s, four Spitfires, four GT6s, a TR8, a Peyote MKII Special, a Devin bodied TR4, and a TVR 2200S. All cars were prepared beautifully and sounded great roaring around the “Four miles of black magic”.

There was more than just the Kastner Cup to be won. There was also Snook’s Dream Cars Marque Awards given to each model Triumph raced with the best times. Those winners were as follows:
Andrew Willms ’60 TR3A 2:59
Clark Lincoln ’71 GT6 2:53
Leo Oddi ’68 TR250 2:50
Jerry Barker ’71 Spitfire 2:49
Ken Knight ’64 TR4 2:48
Bill Babcock ’59 Peyote 2:44
Sam Halkias ’71 TR6 2:40
Peter Bulkowski ’77 TR8 2:39

The winner of the coveted Kastner Cup was Ken Knight in his ’64 TR4

Special mention of non Kastner Cup finishers:
Jason Ostrowski ’69 GT6+ 2:52
Christian Marx ’77 TR8 2:35
Bill Dentinger ’56 TR3 N/A
Sean Alexander ’62 TR4 N/A

It has been said that this was the fiercest contingent of GT6s seen in America since the 1969 Daytona Run Offs. It was an amazing spectacle of Triumph racing form and function that has been seen in the 11 years the Kastner Cup has run. These cars have a story and so do their drivers. It was a true honor to be part of the whole weekend and to hang out with racing royalty such as Kas Kastner, Dan Fowler, Bob Johns, Chuck McGuire, and Joe Alexander as well as writers such as Peter Egan and Burt Levy. If you have not attended a Vintage Race like this, I recommend it. Next year’s Kastner Cup will be held at Eagle’s Canyon International Raceway.

By Shawn Frank