Fastest pilots at the Air Races put down ripping laps during qualifying. And now here they are.

STEAD – Now that everyone had raced its time to introduce the fast qualifiers at this years NCAR. These are the ones that everyone wants to catch and pass.

Fastest of all is Rick Vandam, who flies a L-39 jet and posted his fast lap at 491.036 mph. He bumped Sean Cushing off the pole on the final morning of qualifying.

Rick Vandam posted the fastest qualifying speed at this year’s Air Races. He blistered the course at 491.036 mph in his jet.

“Qualifying went great, did a little work on the airplane and it went faster. It was windy and bumpy but everyone had to deal with that,” he said. “The top 3 jets are the fastest racers at Reno and in Sunday’s gold race it might come down to gets the jump at the start. It will be between two L-39’s and a Vampire.”

Next fastest qualifier was Stewart Dawson, who pilots Rare Bear, or the Bear as most people call it. On a windy Monday he posted a speed of 480.644 mph.

Stewart Dawson flew Rare Bare to the fastest lap for the Unlimited Class.

Commenting on his qualifying run Dawson said, “I’m doing good but it wasn’t a good day to qualify. It was rough and I had to dodge dust devils, got tossed around and banged my head on the canopy about seven times during the run. This sun of a gun will be alive on Sunday and if it isn’t, it just doesn’t count.”

Fastest in the growing Sport Class was John Parker, flying his Thunder Mustang. He was going for a 400 mph record but the weather didn’t quite let him manage that but he still posted a fast lap of 397.251 mph.

John Parker set the fast time for the Sport Class in his Thunder Mustang.

Asked about the weather and his run, Parker said, “It was a little bit of everything but it was just the way things worked out. We’re going to be doing the best we can, being consistent, reliable and put on a good show and that’s what our sponsors are looking for. Need to thank 51 Aero and Tempest for their support.”

Tom Aberle once again set a record in the Biplane class of 284.454 mph.

Tom Abverle set fast time and broke his own qualifying record in his Biplane.

Asked about his qualifying run he said, “The run was a bit of a surprise for us. We more or less expected about the same performance as last year and everything came together in a proper combination to give us a 10 mph over our previous record; 284.454 for a biplane is moving right along. We’re in a heat race Thursday, Friday, Saturday and those will be in the morning and on Sunday I believe the gold is somewhere around 10:30 or 11 as it gives a better shot at being seen by the crowd, especially if the wind isn’t blowing.”

This year the fastest T-6 is piloted by Nick Macy flying Six Cat and he turned in a speed of 238.524 mph/

Nick Macy set the fast time in the T-6 Class.

“The qualifying was kind of surprising because the weather was not very good there but the speeds actually came up OK. We’re just happy we got where we are and looking for calmer weather,” he said.

And finally Steve Senegal once again set fast time for the IF1 class by laying down a 252.398 mph lap.

The IF1 fast qualifier is Steve Senegal.

The week’s turning out really well I thin the main story of the week is going to be the weather. As you know we’ve got some interesting weather coming up, yesterday we had smoke visibility was pretty bad, today smoke’s gone but the winds have picked up, looking out I see some cumulus clouds out there,” he said. “We race early in the morning so hope we can get it done but it’s going to be cooler this year so our times will probably be slower than last year but as long as we come out front that’s all that matters.”

So there you have it, the fastest pilots in each class. With good weather forecast for Sunday it could be an epic Air Race.

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