Mosport, June 2003 race report
(click on thumbnails below for larger picture)
The event starts off by getting us located in the excellent tent with professional-looking banners supplied by Tom Strange.
Joe "I never work on my car" Alexander (our fearful leader) works on his brakes:
Tom Strange has what turned out to be head gasket problems. Here he is getting consultation from Kas Kastner and Paul Richardson. Can't get much better than this!
Irv Korey hit the wall outside turn 9. :( With help from Ernie Husmann and friends he gets back on track.
Bob Kramer blew his motor (lost #3 rod) in spectacular fashion. I was on his rear quarter when it blew and saw a big ball of yellow flame come out from under the car as well as a bunch of parts start bouncing down the track behind him. The pictures are kinda dark. The block is red, the black parts below the # 3 spark plug and the rear carb are the holes in the side of the block. We hated to see Bob have that kind of luck, especially after towing all the way from Texas. He stayed through the weekend to cheer the rest of us on. That's true vintage racing spirit!
Joe Alexander works on his car AGAIN! Carbs this time... :)
The Beady Eye bunch comes up with a "special" T-shirt for Susan Kahler:
Daughter Tori came along for this race and was a huge help throughout the weekend. Here she is putting lug nuts back on. We ended up with several folks running out of tires and trading used tires to make it through the weekend (see next to last picture). Tori got to do this a few times...
Race day looks good. The TR-4's are lined up ready for action!
I start the MG / Triumph challenge in 4th place behind Mark Wheatley in his TR-4, Gord Ballantine in his V-8 powered TR-8, and Jack Drews (Dad) in his TR-4. Jack has trouble getting his car started, so ends up starting at the back of the pack. :( Jack, in a heroic drive, works his way up to 4th place behind Tony's TR-4 (#1), the MG of Joe Lightfoot (#2), and Gord Ballantine's TR-8 (#3). Jack should have won the race, but, as they say, that's racing. Yours truly, Tony Drews, ended up with the overall win in my debut of the freshly rebuilt and repainted Red Rocket! The MG was pushing me all the way, so it was a particularly satisfying victory. Check out the tread left on the right rear tire at the end of the race - I certainly used up all of my stuff! The picture of me in the lead was taken by Kas Kastner, head of the west coast Triumph factory team when it was in existence. As Wayne from Wayne's World would say: I'm not worthy! Of course, I couldn't have done this without help from my crew: Tori Drews (Daughter) and Frances Drews (Mother), as well as my sponsor: MasterCard (of course, they don't know they are sponsoring me...).
After the race at the awards ceremony, Jack Drews is awarded the Kastner Cup for Vintage spirit and preparation in Triumph Racing by Kas himself. Quite an honor!
Ready to head home:
Results sheets...
1st timed session:
Qualifying:
Group 3 & 6 1st race:
Group 3 & 6 2nd race (I got held up in traffic, including the V-8 Corvette behind me that I eventually passed for good.):
Triumph / MG Challenge race results (I won, I won, I won!!!!):
