RENO, Nev. (August 12, 2021) – The field is set for this year’s STIHL National Championship Air Races with 145 planes and 155 pilots racing for glory Sept. 15-19 just north of downtown Reno, Nev.
Hours of preparation, certification and practice brings one of the largest fields of racers to the outdoor event. This year is the first year the field includes the event’s newest racing class, STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing) Drag, with an impressive 25 competitors looking to take home the first championship in the sport that has become a social media phenomenon.
While the core of the event boasts the world’s fastest motorsport with seven race classes going head-to-head at speeds often exceeding 500 mph, the Reno Air Races also features an impressive air show as well as on-ground displays, competitions and vendors.
Fans will see demonstrations by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey, F-35A Lightning II, Tucker’s Air Patrol and Jim Peitz Aerosports. On the ground fans will get to experience the National Aviation Heritage Invitation, the GRADD-NVBAA STEM Education Discovery Zone and the racing pits, an aviation fan favorite.
2021 Pilots and Planes
| Unlimited | ||
| 0 | Spam Can | John Maloney |
| 2 | Goldfinger | John Michael Brown |
| 4 | Sweet and lovely | Jeff LaVelle |
| 6 | Shanty Irish | John J. Dowd, Jr. |
| 8 | Dreadnought | Joel Swager |
| 11 | Miss America | Brent Hisey |
| 31 | Speedball Alice | Dan Vance |
| 41 | Lady B | Michael Kelly Pfleger |
| 44 | Blondie | Brant Seghetti |
| 55 | Man O’ War | Ken Gottschall |
| 62 | BUNNY | Tom Nightingale |
| 63 | Pretty Polly | Patrick Nightingale |
| 81 | Wee Willy II | Rob Patterson |
| 114 | Argonaut | Sherman G. Smoot |
| 924 | 924G | Dennis Sanders |
| PACE | Pace | Steve Hinton |
| Alternate pilots not already flying | ||
| Mark Watt | ||
| Mark Moodie |
| JET | ||
| 1 | Athena | Robert McCormack |
| 3 | Pole Dancer | J. Kevin Roll |
| 6 | Sluggo | Joe Gano |
| 8 | Race 8 | David Sterling |
| 11 | Ivan | Jerry Kerby |
| 19 | Blue Ice | Charlie Camilleri |
| 24 | Just Lucky | Peter A. Zaccagnino |
| 29 | Ballista | Aaron Hogue |
| 35 | Race 35 | Michael Wayne McCauley |
| 37 | Red Thunder | Alexandre Eckmann |
| 38 | Bandit | Scott Farnsworth |
| 54 | Robin 1 | Jeff Turney |
| 61 | Miss Independence | Joseph Swindel |
| 73 | Subito | Cyrill Wipfli |
| 77 | Viper | Peter Stravrides |
| 83 | Race 83 | Scott Farnsworth |
| 84 | Tumbling Goose | Scott Gusakov |
| 139 | DarkStar | Dianna Stanger |
| 555 | Phoenix | Mark Johnson “Magic” |
| 777 | Red Thunder II | Alexandre Eckmann |
| PACE | Pace 1 | Jay Obernolte |
| PACE | Pace 2 | J. Kevin Roll |
| PACE | Pace 3 | Malte Bruegmann |
| Alternate pilots not already flying | ||
| Michael Steiger | ||
| Phill Fogg |
| Biplane | ||
| 3 | Smokin’ Hot | Sam Swift |
| 6 | Miss Dianne | Rob Caster |
| 10 | Bad MoJo | Jake Stewart |
| 13 | Miss Gianna | Jeffrey Lo |
| 17 | Yellow Fever | Eric Zine |
| 18 | RB Special | John A. D’Alessandris |
| 22 | Nice and EZ | Nicholas Kellikidis |
| 23 | Red Squirrel | Tom Marden |
| 25 | Shake N’ Bake | Tommy Suell |
| 33 | Black Hawk | Anthony Oshinuga |
| 40 | Gone Full Boogie | Michael W. Stewart |
| 66 | Second Hand | Scott Thomson |
| 69 | The Yellow Bomber | Marie-Claire LaBerge |
| 76 | Rudolf | Dave Holmgren |
| 84 | Panther | Alan D. Hoover |
| 247 | Slow Roll | Scott McDonald |
| 314 | Red Ryder | Scott Prewitt |
| 11X | Red Lady | Robert Schmidle |
| 7X | Racer X | Patrick McGarry |
| Alternate pilots not already flying | ||
| David Roelofs | ||
| Kevin Harper |
| Formula 1 | ||
| 9 | Outlaw | Scott Holmes |
| 11 | Endeavor | Steve Senegal |
| 20 | Never Easy | Vernon Robert Austen |
| 27 | Once More | Kent S. Jackson |
| 34 | Limitless | Justin Meaders |
| 39 | Monkey Ninja | Jake Speidel |
| 48 | The Atomic Pumpkin | Blaire Hamilton |
| 52 | Feisty | Steve Temple |
| 54 | Miss Min | James L. Jordan |
| 57 | Heat Stroke | Carl Robinson |
| 72 | The ACME Special | Matt Moore |
| 74 | Phat Ass Cass | Shaun Milke |
| 79 | No Strings Attached | Justin Phillipson |
| 81 | Sleeper | Swaid Lamar Rahn |
| 96 | iLikeCake | Justin Inman |
| 121 | Outatime | Eric Dienst |
| Alternate pilots not already flying | ||
| Mathew Hughes |
| Sport | ||
| 2 | Modo Mio | Vince Walker |
| 3 | Mojo | Sean E. VanHatten |
| 15 | Lucky Girl | Vicky Benzing |
| 22 | Greenstreak | Richard Vandam |
| 24 | Race 24 | Jim Rust |
| 26 | Race 26 | Robert L. Swortzel |
| 28 | Coming In Hot | Peter A. Zaccagnino |
| 30 | One Moment | Andrew Findlay |
| 31 | Tenacity | Mark Frederickson |
| 34 | White Lightning | John Flanagan |
| 35 | Racing Rivets | Shawn Jordan |
| 36 | Race 36 | Paul Downing |
| 39 | Race 39 | Jeff Lavelle |
| 42 | Relentless | Kevin Eldredge |
| 49 | Rocket 6 | Bob Mills |
| 54 | Navy 8 | Chris McMillian |
| 56 | Bad Dingo | George Catalano |
| 60 | Miss’d Tuesday | Delton (Dee) Child |
| 66 | Jus Pass’n Thru | Ernie O. Sutter |
| 67 | Swiss Thunder | Peter Balmer |
| 68 | Wasabinought | Elliot Seguin |
| 76 | Race 76 | Jason Rovey |
| 80 | Miss Ruby S | Skylor Piper |
| 90 | Breathless | Conrad Huffstutler |
| 91 | Breaking Wind | Ryan Moran |
| 92 | Summer Hawk | David Robinson |
| 99 | Martins Legacy | Dave Morss |
| 101 | General Lee | Lee Ulrich |
| 130 | Zebulon | Olivier Langeard |
| 151 | Clas Thunder I | Mathias Haid |
| 181 | GA1 | Karl Grove |
| 270 | Whiskey Tango | Dan West |
| 314 | Phantom Rocket | Scott Prewitt |
| 611 | Ramp Rat’s Ride | Joe Coraggio |
| 777 | Guardian Angel | Matt Ramsey |
| 888 | Triple Eight | Neil Wischer |
| 12 PACE | Taylor Made | Mark Frederick |
| PACE #69 | Pace 69 | Malte Bruegmann |
| Alternate pilots not already flying | ||
| James Stringer |
| STOL | ||
| 2 | Bush Air | Milne “CC” Pocock |
| 3 | Lawn Mower III | Harold Stockman |
| 03 | The Dirty Bird | Jeffery Pohl |
| 4 | STOLFox | Bryan Bowen |
| 7 | Skywagon | Kurt Leaders |
| 11 | Grasshopper | David Kerley |
| 16 | MAGA | William “Butch” V. Kingston |
| 17 | Race 17 | Kevin Sloane |
| 21 | Race 21 | Kevin Palmer |
| 22 | The Beast | Jeff Whiteley |
| 30 | Texian | “Corey” Slone |
| 43 | Doc | Collin Caneva |
| 44 | Yee Haw 6 | Steve Henry |
| 46 | G Wagon | Warren Grobberlaar |
| 48 | Devil Girl | Eddie Sanches |
| 53 | Race 53 | Joseph “Joe” Dory |
| 56 | Sarge | Toby Ashley |
| 62 | The Dog | Austin Clemens |
| 69 | Doodle Clipper | Katie Waito |
| 73 | Race 73 | Tim Schelhorn |
| 80 | ECHO | William “Bo” Ellis |
| 85 | Honey Badger | Cathy Page |
| 88 | Hard Liquor | Nat Esser |
| 94 | Super Cub | Rick Boardman |
| 99 | Hot Rod | Kyle Moses |
| T-6 | ||
| 2 | Bare Essentials | Chris LeFave |
| 4 | Race 4 | Michael Kelly Pfleger |
| 5 | Big Red | Gordo Sanders |
| 6 | Six-Cat | Nick S. Macy |
| 14 | Barons Revenge | Chris Rushing |
| 25 | Vicarious | Jason Karlin |
| 43 | Midnight Miss III | Joel Stinnett |
| 49 | Miss Ellaneous | Bill Muszala |
| 50 | Abracadabra | Vitaly Pecherskyy |
| 66 | Gunslinger | Vic McMann |
| 69 | Eros | Lee Oman |
| 73 | Miss Humboldt Hunny | Loren Marburg |
| 88 | Radial Velocity | John S. Lohmar |
| 90 | Race 90 | Greg McNeely |
| PACE | PACE 1 | Rob Sandberg |
| Alternate pilots not already flying | ||
| Gene McNeely | ||
| Rick Siegfried |
*Racer list is subject to change.
**Italicized and bolded entries are 2019 Gold Champions. Plane and pilot may be different this year or 2019 champion may not be in the field.
Qualifying begins Monday, Sept. 13 and racing begins Wednesday, Sept. 15. Tickets can be purchased online or by calling 1-800-514-3849 ahead of the event. For rolled over or renewed tickets please see the FAQ on the website. For more information, visit AirRace.org.
About the National Championship Air Races
The National Championship Air Races are held every September just north of Reno by the Reno Air Racing Association, a 501(c)(3). The event has become an institution for Northern Nevada and aviation enthusiasts from around the world with seven racing classes, a large display of static aircraft and several military and civilian flight demonstrations. Independent economic impact studies show that the event generates as much as $100 million annually for the local economy. For more information on the National Championship Air Races, visit AirRace.org.