In good company

For one of our fund raisers I designed and build a Challenge Cup that was very well received by the event's participants. I spent a great deal of time and effort trying to find the right components, and contacted many a drag race team in the states and friends in high places. Folks like Cliff Moore of Jon Kaase Racing Engines, and even our old buddy Mike Baker. In the end, my perseverance paid off. The Challenge Cup is pictured on the right.

Now, I am not one to blow my own horn but I must admit that once more, we are in good company. After revealing our Challenge Cup early last summer I keep stumbling across images of similar type trophies used throughout motorsport.

The first one was presented to Neel Jani by Porsche for posting a new lap record of 3:16:887 at the famed Le Mans in 2015 while driving the no 18. Used for this memento was a piston of the actual Porsche 919 Hybrid (LMP1) that raced and won the 2015 24h of Le Mans. To visit the actual news item, click here.

The second one was presented by Traxxas to NHRA funny car driver "fast" Jack Beckman for wining the Traxxas Nitro Shootout at the US Nationals. Beckman beat Robert Hight in the final of the Funny Car bonus event. This trophy resembles my design a bit more at is features two pistons. The image is shown below.

For completeness sake, it's probably the case that I've never remembered previous trophies that resembled my design, just that now I have an interest. Still pretty cool.


Source: Cécile Bonardel/ACO; ESPN.
Photo credit: Own files; Neel Jani( via Twitter), Mark Rebilas.