Friends of Triumph Website

The Friends of Triumph (FOT) are dedicated to preserving the racing heritage of the Triumph marque. Campaigning these automobiles on the track is at the essence of our purpose. Hopefully the photos and descriptions that follow will bear testimony to that end.... a dynamic display of power and agility.

The Friends of Triumph's membership hale from all parts of the world and includes current and previous Triumph race car drivers.

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Announcing the 2008 FOT Feature Event

Classic Motorsports magazine presents the Kastner Cup Vintage Race

It's like a planetary alignment for Triumph fans, only way cooler, since you can actually see it: Hundreds of historic Triumphs from around the globe are converging on Watkins Glen September 3-7 for the Kastner Cup Vintage Race, presented by Classic Motorsports magazine and Moss Motors.

Among the luminaries will be the famed Group 44 factory race cars, the first production Triumph sports car, and – of course – Kas Kastner, the legendary Triumph tuner, racer and head of the North American Triumph Competition Department.

It's all part of the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association's U.S. Vintage Grand Prix, the Grand Prix the largest vintage race weekend in the east. Kastner will present the Kastner Cup to the racer who best embodies the spirit of the marque and the event for the award. He'll also be on hand to assist racers and talk to fans of the marque.

TS01, a 1953 TR2 that holds the distinction of being the first production Triumph sports car off the line, will also be there. Joe Richards, who painstakingly restored TS01 to its historic original specs, will be honored by Friends of Triumph, the North America-based group of Triumph racers and race fans.

Triumph enthusiasts and racers will also be welcomed into the Friends of Triumph Hospitality Tent and into the town of Watkins Glen, where the local Chamber of Commerce organizes the yearly Grand Prix Festival on Friday.

Triumph enthusiasts have an opportunity to enter in a Triumph-only road rally, and selected SVRA race cars will make a trip down from the track, park on display, and then take parade laps of the original 6.6 mile street circuit.

For more information on this amazing weekend of vintage and historic racing go to ClassicMotorsports.net/kastner-cup or contact Tim Baxter at baxter@classicmotorsports.net.

Additional links:

www.svra.com
www.grandprixfestival.com

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Kas Kastner recently finished his third book! You can buy them them from his website, www.kaskastner.com. These are a must have for anyone interested in Triumph racing scene, past or present. More information on our Kas Pages.

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New crankshafts

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The 2007 FOT Feature Event was

The Thriller at Miller

More about the Kastner Cup here: http://www.kaskastner.com/kastnercup.html

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Racing is what the FOT is about,

these images say it all.

You can see this and more on the historical page photos.

Ken Richardson and Mike Rothschild in Dallas

1988 at the TR National event.

Polaroid photo by Hanne, Mikes wife. From the look of these cowboys faces they are seriously happy.

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Kas Kastner and Lew Spencer at Pomona in '59. Click the picture for the whole story.

The TR250K behind a few characters at Sebring in 1968.

Short Sebring Story from R. "Kas" Kastner

When building the cars for the 1963 attack at Sebring, I had 31 gal fuel tanks made up and then installed them in the trunks of the cars. At the first filling I found that they were oversize by almost 1½ gals. No time to take out and change etc etc.....soooooooo, I bought a bunch of plastic 8 ounce bottles, screwed the lids on tight and dumped them into the tank until the proper volume was found. Went through tech inspection easy and right on the money. Later on we found that the gasoline had melted the plastic and I was back to the original size. Good thing they never checked them after the event. Amazingly none of the drivers noticed the knocking around in the tank when on low fuel. I heard it instantly but " whatchagoingtodo". We went three hours with each car before refueling. ( could have made it without the extra but ......) Finished the event 1,2,4.