Miss America 2, flown by Randall Haskin, is a fan favorite at the National Championship Air Races at Reno. Reno Air Racing Association
The Reno Air Racing Association (RARA) has released the competitor lineups for the 2021 Stihl National Championship Air Races planned for September 15 to 19 in Reno, Nevada.
Qualifying heats begin ahead of the action on September 13. A total of 155 pilots plan to test their mettle, each flying one of the 145 aircraft slated for the qualifying rounds.
Earlier this summer, pilots wanting to participate passed through “rookie school” in order to gain initial certification to fly—or to renew their qualifications.
This year will mark the debut of the STOL Drag competition, which was a demonstration event in the last NCAR held in 2019. A total of 25 pilots will toe the line in this new event.
Those attending will also 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.
Enthusiasts on the ground can experience the National Aviation Heritage Invitation, the GRADD-NVBAA STEM Education Discovery Zone, and the racing pits, where a lot of the action takes place.
Tickets can be purchased online or by calling 800-514-3849 ahead of the event. For rolled over or renewed tickets from 2020, please see the FAQs on the website.
The full lineups are listed below.
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 Austin
- 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 1 - Rob Sandberg
Alternate pilots not already flying
- Gene McNeely
- Rick Siegfried
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