I Want to Break Free
No passing on the starting lap. A pace car leads each group one lap around the four mile fourteen turn track to begin each session.
This is the Life
We hunkered down on corner five at Road America and were once again treated to the sights, sounds and smells of uniquely crafted sports cars and racers. Screaming engines. Aromatic high test racing fuel. The smell of hot brake pads. Thunderous flaming exhausts. Who cares if there’s a bit of chill in the air. Life is good.
Small Town
Spectators filled Main Street Elkhart Lake when the Ferrarri club drove into town to show their cars.
Friendship
Friends of Triumph (FOT), a club for vintage Triumph racers, sponsored a car show for the featured marque (along with the vintage Formula V cars in the foreground). Triumphs lined up behind the Vs, including our TR8, second from the left. The same faces seem to show up throughout the years fostering treasured friendships.
Cup
The rare Triumph 250K participated in the Kastner Cup featured race. The K references Kastner and the 250 references the TR250 engine and chassis upon which it was based.
Rare
The Triumph TR250K is one of a kind. It was built as a prototype to compete with the Porsche 911 at the 1968 Sebring Races by Triumph Director of Motorsports Kas Kastner and designer Peter Brock. It led the 911s for the first three hours, but then a failed mag wheel took out a brake caliper and the lack of replacement parts forced it to retire.
John and son Charlie were amazed and fascinated by the car at Road America.
Road
The pace car exits the Road America track just before the starting line to begin a group race at the Fall Vintage Race Festival near Elkhart Lake, WI.
Bright
The bright sun reflected off the cars as a Shadow and a Donnybrooke Motorsports McLaren raced out of Corner 3 and into the Moraine Sweep.
Clear
The track was clear as number 95, a 1962 Lotus 23B Sports Racer from Donnybrooke Motorsports — Home of World Ferrarri and GT Cars, raced down the straightaway.
Favorite Time of Day
Out on the false grid anticipating their first run of the day. (Two reborn Cheetahs originally built 1962 – 1966 to compete with Shelby’s Cobras.)
Busy
The pit crew is always busy. This Group 44 Jaguar prototype gets a cleaning after its initial inspection and prep work.
Wings
All Morgans sport a winged badge. The Plus 8 was built from 1968 – 2004 and used the same aluminum engine block as the Triumph TR8.
Self Portrait
A shiny stainless steel transporter reflected not only its cargo, but also a pair of amateur photographers as well.
Shady
Our TR8 shared a shady parking area with our daughter-in-law’s Alfa Spider upon arriving at Road America for the HAWK Vintage Races. The races were named after HAWK brake pads, the race sponsor.
Amp
Vintage race cars, like most respectable vintage autos, have gauges rather than warning lights (the latter have been known to light up after it’s too late to fix a problem). The bottom right gauge is an ammeter, which indicates the electrical system’s rate of charge or discharge in amperes, known as amps.
Power
A vintage Caddy posed in front of an appropriate logo painted on a transporter in the background. Its powerful overhead valve V8 was the engine of choice for performance cars from Allards to deuce Ford hotrods.
Numbers
The patinated numbers on this Model A Ford hotrod parked in the paddock matched the rest its paint.
Tires
Race cars go through tires very quickly. This discard pile was found hidden away in a paddock restricted area.
A Photo Journey 