Sunday
Update Sheet
Note:
All race statistics, as posted in the official
race results,
printed at day's end by the Reno Air Race
Association.
All Classes: Welcome
to the last day of the Reno National
Championship Air Races.
Unlimited Class: The
Unlimited Gold Race was very interesting
from start to finish. Though it appeared
there was an intense battle for first
place between Dago Red, in the lead, and
Voodoo following close behind. Pilot Matt
Jackson in Voodoo, Race 5, had jumped the
start and would be penalized 1 Lap
(+64.43 seconds) at race end.
As the "line-abreast" start
fell into place at the at the beginning
of the race, Pilot Tom Dwelle of Critical
Mass, Race 10, was caught behind traffic
and had to play catch-up, putting him in
a bad position right away, he would have
to work his way through the pack to get
at Jackson and Holm.
After the race, Tom commented "it
was like being in [aerial] combat
again" describing his move through
the traffic. Only moments after the race
began, Dwelle began his charge forward,
gaining on the two leaders, Holm and
Jackson as he cut through the pack.
The problem for Dwelle was, he did not
have sufficient ADI to hold full power
for more than 2 or 3 laps.. Critical Mass
Crew Chief, Ken Dwelle did the math and
radioed his pilot to back off when they
calculated that he could not reach the
leaders before the race ended.
As Dan Martin crossed the finish line for
lap six, an ominous pop was heard...
Martin called a Mayday, pulling up off
the course... a burned piston was the
cause ending Dan's race for the Gold.
Pilot John Bagley, of Race 47, Southern
Cross, cut Pylon 1 on Lap 7 and was
penalized +16 seconds.
So, your Unlimited Gold winner is Skip
Holm and Race 4, Dago Red, followed by
Tom Dwelle, Race 10 Critical Mass and
Bill Rheinschild of Race 45 Risky
Business took the Third place finish.
The story of this race did not end at the
finish this time though....
The Dago Red Racing Team slipped a
surprise into today's schedule. Skip Holm
would make an attempt to set the first
officially recorded 500mph lap after the
Unlimited Gold Race concluded. The
attempt was cut short when Skip called a
Mayday due to "...a rod going
through the B bank"... Bill
Kerchenfaut said "..we'll fix it and
fly it home". When we asked pilot
Skip Holm how if felt to win the first
race of the new Millenium, his comment
was "GREAT!!"
As it turns out.. Dago had one half of a
lap left in the Dwight Thorne engine, in
another "what if" year very
similar to last year, had the race been
one lap longer, the outcome might have
been completely different than history
records it.
T-6 Class: The
T-6 Gold Race was very exciting, as the
top three contenders were separated by
less than 4 seconds. Nick Macy, pilot of
Race 6 Six Cat's time was 7:49.43, Thomas
Campau, pilot of Race 21 Mystical Power
had a time of 7:50.63 with Al Goss, in
Race 75 Warlock, following close behind
at 7:53.27.
Mary Dilda, pilot of Race 22, Two of
Hearts, continued to have problems with
loss of power, after the race, while
searching for the root of the problem,
the crew found a crack in the exhaust
system....this was probably the culprit
that has plagued the crew all week.
Sport Class:
With three Mayday's in as many races this
week, Dave Morss finally completed a
race, taking first place in the Gold
final today... After the race, Dave
Morss, pilot of Race 99 Lancair IV,
commented about how his week has been, he
said "..8 Cylinders, 8 Pistons and 4
Turbo Chargers on a 6 Cylinder
engine." Asked about the Sport Gold
Race, itself, he explained why, after the
fourth lap, he started gaining more and
more altitude on each lap. The "gap
seal" that had come loose yesterday
causing his third Mayday, had come loose
again and he wasn't sure how long he
could hold it together. Fortunately for
Dave, he held on to it long enough to win
the race and land safely even though the
aircraft was shaking violently.
Second place winner, Lou Meyer, pilot of
Race 69 Thunder Mustang, was pleased to
take the Second place finish. We have an
interview with him scheduled for tomorrow
morning.
Formula One Class:
Ray Cote, pilot of Race 4 Alley Cat, was
elated with his win in the Formula One
Gold. Our AAFO.COM Ramp photographer
Birgitta Nurmi was covered in champagne
before noon, while riding on the back of
Cote's Triumph Truck after the win today.
It's been a busy week for everyone here
at Stead. Many crews have a lot of work
ahead of them... Full reports on our week
here at the 2000 Reno National
Championship Air Races will be filed as
we pack up our remote headquarters and
get our "road show" back into
the AAFO.COM office... Stay tuned for
photo galleries, video clips and audio
interviews from "Reno 2000"
Sunday
Results
Unlimited | T-6 | Sport | Formula
1
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Sunday
Pairings
Unlimited | T-6 | Sport | Formula
1
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