The return of the Reno Air Races in 2021 saw a fan favorite, “Dreadnought,” taking the Unlimited Gold Trophy home for the fifth year in a row.
Flown by Joel Swager, Dreadnought completed the course in 08:49:687 at an average speed of 426.896 mph.
Other results:
- Jet Class: Peter Stavrides flying Viper, who completed the course in 05:36:737 at an average speed of 502.362 mph
- Sport Class: Jeff LaVelle flying Race 39, who completed the course in 07:02:030 at an average speed of 400.834 mph
- T6 Class: Chris Rushing flying Baron’s Revenge completed the course in 07:23:814 at an average speed of 234.862 mph
- Formula One: Justin Meaders flying Limitless completed the course in 06:19:022 at an average speed of 237.020 mph
- Biplane Class: Jake Steward flying Bad MoJo completed the course in 05:21:765 at an average speed of 209.398 mph. (The Gold race was canceled, so the winner of Heat 3A was chosen as the overall winner).
- STOL Drag: Toby Ashley flying a Carbon Cub took the top spot in the newest category at Reno.
Next year’s races are slated for Sept. 14-18, 2022.
Bradley was on site during the 2021 races and captured these photos for us:
Matthias Haid in Thunder Mustang Sport Race 151 “Clas Thunder I” with Crew Chief Mike Cummings warming up for a dawn patrol test flight. 
CC Pocock in STOL Cessna 170 Race 2 “Bush Air” battles Bo Ellis in Legend Cub Race 80 “ECHO” past the home pylon in a qualifying heat. 
Andrew Findlay in Sport Race 30 Lancair Super Legacy “One Moment” taxis down the ramp toward eventual 2021 Sport Gold champion Jeff LaVelle’s Glasair III Race 39. 
Palm Springs Air Museum’s Bell P-63C Kingcobra “Pretty Polly” at sunrise. 
Swaid Rahn in the Phillipson IF1 Cassutt Race 81 “Sleeper” and crew ready for Heat 1A on Runway 8. 
Captain Eddie Kurdziel readies his rare Fairey Firefly AS6 for competition in the National Aviation Heritage Invitational. 
T-6/SNJ/Harvard Heat 1A in the first turn after coming down the chute on the pace lap Thursday afternoon. Chris Rushing is out front in his AT-6B Race 14 “Baron’s Revenge,” and won the Gold Race for his third title in the class. 
Mark Moodie in the P-51D Mustang “Spam Can” with Robbie Patterson in the P-51D Mustang “Wee Willy II” coming past Pylon 2 in the first Unlimited heat race of the week. 
Three Pitts S-1s head off at the start of Biplane Heat 3B on Friday: Nicholas Kellikidis in Race 22 “Nice and EZ,” Alan Hoover in Race 84 “Panther,” and Jeffrey Lo in Race 6 “Miss Diane.” 
Justin Phillipson in IF1 Shoestring Race 79 “No Strings Attached” and Justin Meaders in Snoshoo Race 34 “Limitless” on the roll for Heat 2A. 
Bernie Vasquez coming around the corner between Pylons 4 and 5 in the Unlimited Heat 2A in Mike Brown’s F51-D Mustang Race 2 “Goldfinger.” 
Friday night on the ramp: Bo Ellis in STOL Legend Cub Race 80 and Wayne Grobbelaar in STOL Cessna 180 Race 46 taxi past the newly arrived USN F-5, 2 USAFA-10s, and the USAF F-35 Demo team. 
T-6 Class AT-6D Race 69 “Eros” of Lee Oman on short final while a Louisiana ANG F-15 is readied to tow into the military display area of the ramp. 
Jeffrey Lo in Race 6 “Miss Diane” takes Alan Hoover in Race 84 “Panther” by 0.8 seconds while the checkered flag waves to win the Biplane Silver Final race on Saturday. 
Andrew Findlay and crew push Sport Race 30 Lancair “One Moment” into just the right spot on Saturday at sunset. 
Joe Swindel in the L-29 Delfin Race 61 “Miss Independence” stays inside Michael McCauley in the L-39 Albatros “Blackbird” in the Jet Bronze Final on Sunday. 
Scott Farnsworth in the SIAI Marchetti S-211 Race 83 “Vader” streaks past the can at Pylon 2 in Sunday’s Jet Bronze Race. 
Jeff LaVelle on center stage in his P-51D Race 4 “Sweet and Lovely” before winning the Unlimited Silver Final, as well the Sport Gold in his Glasair III, on Sunday. 
Steve Hinton Sr. in the P-51D leads the USAF Demo team F-35 Lightning II in the Heritage Flight on Sunday. 
Joel Swager and his #1 fan take the trophy for the Unlimited Gold Final after his win in the Hawker Sea Fury Race 8 “Dreadnought,” the fifth overall for the airplane and the second for Joel. 
Shawn Jordan in Sport Race 35 RV-4 “Racing Rivets” leads Tommy Ishii in Race 744 RV-8 “Millenial Falcon”, Matt Ramsey in Race 777 RV-8 “Guardian Angel” and Scott Prewitt in Race 314 F-1 Rocket “Phantom Rocket” around Pylon 2 in the 2021 Sport Medallion Final.
Thank you for the Great coverage of the Reno Air Races! Especially since you posted my picture in “Sleeper” at Reno. It was wonderful to get to race again
this past year in 2021.
If you would allow me one favor it would be to correct my name spelling, it’s Swaid Rahn.
Thank you!!!
Thank you for sharing the stunning photos ! What a fantastic event ! I hope to be there to see it in person one day !