written before the start of Reno
2005 will be an exciting year of unlimited racing. The famed modified P-51
racer "Dago Red" has retired (bad Dago!). That opens a spot at or near the top for many
hungry gold unlimiteds.
Good news is that "Strega", another highly modified P-51 is returning to the
races after a few years off (nice Tiger). Curt Brown will do the flying for Tiger Destafani's
champion racer. Stega has also won several times in the past. Tiger was at the
controls for most of those years prior. Strega's last few years were hounded by mechanical
problems with 2 DNF's on Sunday's Gold Final.
This year, they have a couple of racing merlin's on hand and are ready to jump
back into that 8.4 mile race course.
The "Bear", as it is nicknamed, will not go down without
major kicking and screaming. They have done several modifications
to the Bear for 2005. It is unknown whether these mods will be enough to hold
off Strega. These two are certainly the top favorites - both past multi-year
champions. But racing is racing and
things happen. There are a few very fast Sea Furies lurking on the tails of the
top two and lets not forget about a certain stock mustang. Stock mustang? Get
real! What are you talking about ... ? Well, it was stock in early July!
Dan Martin in "Ridge Runner III", Race 20 is that said
stocker. But Dan is as competitive as they come and he will be hanging close to the top
finishers in gold if everything holds together. That's the part of racing that
is the unknown. Last year Dan was looking great, but the racing merlin's blower
had other ideas when it blew the wrong way on Saturday. Dan had to pull out of
the race. The Ridge Runner III crew and others worked all night to get the stock merlin back
in for Sunday. They did it and Dan flew in the gold finals, enough for nineth
place. A few years back, Dan finished 3rd, so he's been there.
Dan and his crew chief Mike Barrow have a few new tricks for this year. Last
year he was able to post some speeds in the high 440's but they're hoping for
more this year. Strega, Rare Bear and the fastest Sea Furies better not miss a beat,
because a "stock" red noser will be waiting very close by. Stop by the Ridge
Runner pits and say hi to Dan, but don't be surprised to find him elbow deep in
grease and oil. He's been turning wrenches on that (and many other) P-51 for years.
Other P-51s like Bob Button's "Voodoo", Brent Hisey's "Miss America" and
Ron Buccarelli's highly modified racer will be shooting for the gold race
on Sunday as well. There was a 400+ time on Sunday's Bronze final
by Joe Thibodeau in the P-51 "Crusader" at 409 mph. Don't know if Crusader has
any new mods for 2005. Stu Eberhardt will
not be flying "Merlins Magic" in 2005. Stu has been a long time racer at Reno.
We hope to see him back soon. These were the only P-51s above 400
mph for the races in '04.
These mustangs have to be watching for all those Sea Furies (and don't forget
last year's champion bearcat and a fast Yak). This year the field
has 10 Sea Furies, 14 mustangs, 2 bearcats, 3 yaks, 1 wildcat, and 1 tigercat.
Oh yeah, one of those mustangs is a P-51A named "Polar Bear", owned by Jerry
Gabe from Hollister, Ca. Jerry has been working hard on his A model and Dave Morss
will be flying her. She's got a new Allison V-12 up front and they were doing
run-ups today. Contender?
This year will be exiting as racing this fast is always full of surprises. The
sound and sight of nine 400 plus mph warbirds rounding pylons at 70-80 degree
banks is enough to keep you smiling. They cover the 8.4 mile course in just
over one minute and they never have their wings level at those speeds. Come by
and get hooked.