R. W. "Kas" Kastner was a well known production car driver in the late 1950's and class Champion of the California Sports Car Club in 1959 as well as winner of the Championship for the SCCA during that same year. The Championships were won driving a 1958 TR3A Triumph . He was the Chief Instructor for the California Sports Car Club at the Riverside Raceway for several years and also the National Licensing Chairman for the SCCA . Kas was winner of the Sports Car Club of America's annual award for the Best Technical Article (1963).
Kas has also participated in sailboat racing for twenty years and was the National Champion in two classes along with many regional and divisional titles.
R.W.'s experience in the automotive industry spans over 50 years. He has particular experience in the field of performance vehicles and automotive racing and racing team management.
He designed various automotive performance parts, systems and methods of increasing the performance of standard production cars.
R. W. "Kas" Kastner is an acknowledged expert in racing team management with a winning history of National and International racing events. He has wins in various classes and prototype competitions for many well known automotive manufacturers and privately owned racing teams.
R.W. was the past owner/manager of independent companies such as Arkay Inc., Kastner-Brophy Inc., Kastner Brophy Racing and Roy Woods Racing. Under the flag of these companies he was the team manager of the Formula 5000, Can Am and Indy car teams. These teams were raced under the Kastner Brophy Racing & Roy Woods Racing names, and sponsored by Carling Black Label Beer, Goodyear, Champion and others.
He was also involved with the design, manufacturing and sale of performance components and systems such as; engine high performance parts, suspension parts, turbocharger systems, brakes, and aerodynamic improvement of body parts and design.
R.W. started the USA Triumph Competition Department for the Triumph factory in the early 1960's. He authored the Triumph Preparation manuals distributed by the Triumph factory in the 1960 - 1972 era of production car racing. R.W. is well-known for his pursuit of power increases for the Triumph cars with long experience in engine dynamometer testing.
He then authored and published three books starting in 2003 on Triumph racing and historical information on racing when he was the Triumph Competition Manager for the USA:
Historical and Technical Guide for Triumph Cars
Triumph Preparation Manual
Racing, Winning and Other Myths in Triumph Cars
R. W. "Kas" Kastner was the Motorsports National Manager for Nissan of North America from 1986 thru 1990. He then moved on to be Vice President, Operations, of the new Nissan research and development facility Nissan Performance Technology Inc (NPTI) in Vista, California.
At this facility Kas and his team of over 225 experts were responsible for the design, development, construction and racing of the Nissan prototype cars predominate in the International Motorsports Association (IMSA) series of road racing events. During this period he lead the team of Nissan Prototype cars to four consecutive Drivers Championships for Geoff Brabham and three consecutive Manufacturers championships for Nissan. The 12 hours of Sebring, 24 hours of Daytona and 24 hours of Le Mans were all on the long schedule of events.
