Race Cars and Motorsports

Here's the latest article in my series on Formula 5000 racecars: Mead Korwin's Lola T192 F5000 Car (43 photos)

Triumph enthusiasts might be interested to know this car originally belonged to Triumph racing great Kas Kastner, and that it was driven throughout the 1971 Formula 5000 season by Jim Dittemore, who had previously driven Triumphs for Kas in for several seasons of SCCA racing. The article includes their remembrances - I interviewed them both! - and the story of how Jimmy Dittemore became USAC's 1971 Road Racing Champion. This particular T192 was also borrowed and driven by Al Unser in the Questor Grand Prix. At that time, Al Unser was the reigning Indy 500 and USAC season champion.

"Teaser" snapshots:




Enjoy!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2010 09:09PM by Moderator.

Curtis,

Wonderful article on the Kastner Lola 192.

I saw this car and team run at Mid Ohio years ago and will never forget it.

Thank you

Phillip G

I really envy you for having that memory, Phillip. It was great fun interviewing Kastner and Dittemore... they had the time of their lives in 1971 and were so happy to talk about it. There's something so special about Formula 5000 cars - serious power/speed/rumble/heroics but on a modest budget - and this T192 is from before the series started to dwindle. I've got another article coming along soon about a much faster and more famous F5000 car, but by its time F5000 was becoming less competitive. In 1971, there was always a lot of doubt about which make/model might win any given race.

What's the future of open-wheel racing in North America? It needs a big shot of charisma, promotion, and investment. Can you imagine the Indy 500 passing into history? Even here on this website, I don't think most readers are as interested in open-wheel racing. Is it just that the cars look unfamiliar? NASCAR wasn't always so dominant in terms of media coverage, budgets, etc.