Author: B. Hager
Edition: Model Aviation - 1996/04
Page Numbers: 40, 41, 43, 44, 46
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NMPRA Championship Race

Bill Nager

The National Miniature Pylon Racing Association (NMPRA) holds its year-end Formula 1 Championship Race on a rotating basis among Texas, Florida, and California. The 1995 race was held at Sepulveda Basin (just north of Los Angeles) October 21–22. Ron Schorr was Contest Director. Thirty pilots entered, including several veterans and past champions.

Qualifying and attendees

  • Qualification: past Championship winners, NMPRA officers, top-ten finishers at the AMA Nationals, or top-20% finishers in your district. Exemptions considered under special circumstances.
  • Notable attendees: Richard Verano (returned after business absences), Ed Easingwood and John Headley (from Canada), Dave Doyle, Junior Henson Bartle, Mike Helsel, Dave Shadel, Lou Rodriguez, Darrol Cady, David Lloyd, Chip Hyde, Drew Jerina, Norm Johnson, and others.
  • Many pilots arrived Thursday for test flying; practice and final checks continued Friday. Scale judging and safety inspections were held at the airport motel. Contest start time was 8:30 a.m. Saturday.

Saturday — Rounds 1–6

Saturday morning started slowly while fog cleared. Some entrants returned to their rooms to work props and engines after practice.

Heat winners (times in mm:ss):

  1. Heat One — Richard Verano, 1:09
  2. Heat Two — Dave Shadel, 1:06.40
  3. Heat Three — Mike Helsel, 1:12
  4. Heat Four — Lou Rodriguez, 1:17
  5. Heat Five — Chip Hyde, 1:12
  6. Heat Six — Darrol Cady, 1:11
  7. Heat Seven — David Lloyd, 1:19
  8. Heat Eight — Henry Bartle, 1:12

Round-by-round highlights:

  • Round Two: Richard Verano dropped one point; Dave Shadel won (1:07); Chip Hyde won a heat (1:08); Darrol Cady and David Lloyd took zeros; Henry Bartle dropped one point.
  • Round Three: Dave Shadel won again (1:07); Mike Helsel won (1:09); Chip Hyde, Henry Bartle, and Richard Verano each won heats and put points down.
  • Round Four: Dave Shadel and Mike Helsel won heats; Chip Hyde crashed an airplane; Richard Verano won (1:07), still one point behind the lead.
  • Round Five: Dave Shadel won; Richard Verano beat Mike Helsel (1:06), moving Shadel into first place.
  • Round Six: Dave Shadel, Richard Verano, and Mike Helsel won heats and held the top three positions.

Standings after Saturday (top contests):

  • 1st — Dave Shadel
  • 2nd — Richard Verano (1 point down)
  • 3rd — Mike Helsel (1 point down)
  • Henry Bartle (2 points down), Lou Rodriguez (4 points down), Drew Jerina and Norm Johnson (5 points down)

Banquet and year awards

The banquet was held at a country club; Ron Schorr organized the event and awards. After dinner the top 20 points leaders for the year were awarded trophies. The top ten for the year were:

  1. Richard Verano
  2. Henry Bartle
  3. Darrol Cady
  4. Bill Hager
  5. Harold Sattler
  6. Matthew Mikko
  7. John Headley
  8. Ed Easingwood
  9. Andrew McIndoe
  10. Roy Andrassy

Sunday — Rounds 7–11 and fly-offs

Round Seven:

  • Henry Bartle crashed and was out of contention.
  • Richard Verano won (1:08).
  • Dave Shadel posted the contest’s fastest time, 1:05.82.
  • Mike Helsel won his heat.

Round Eight:

  • Dave Shadel and Richard Verano both won with 1:09s, maintaining the lead positions.

Round Nine:

  • Richard Verano won (1:07); Mike Helsel won (1:09).
  • Dave Shadel’s model ran lean and suffered a failure, resulting in a zero. This moved Richard Verano and Mike Helsel into a first-place tie.

Round Ten:

  • Richard Verano won (1:06).
  • Mike Helsel beat Dave Shadel in their heat; Shadel cut and could not catch up, dropping two more points. Mike and Richard headed for a fly-off.

Round Eleven:

  • Dave Shadel and Richard Verano won their respective heats, setting up the championship fly-off.

Fly-offs:

  • The championship fly-off was close, with Richard Verano emerging as champion, Mike Helsel finishing second, and Dave Shadel third.
  • There was also a fly-off between Drew Jerina and Lou Rodriguez; Lou won. Drew finished sixth — his best Championship Race finish ever.

Final Standings

  1. Richard Verano
  2. Mike Helsel
  3. Dave Shadel
  4. Norm Johnson
  5. Lou Rodriguez
  6. Drew Jerina
  7. Andrew McIndoe
  8. Travis Flynn
  9. Darrol Cady
  10. Bill Hager
  11. Pete Reed
  12. Ed Easingwood
  13. David Chapdelaine
  14. Russell Tokouka
  15. David Doyle
  16. Lloyd Burnham
  17. Henry Bartle
  18. John Headley
  19. Henson Bartle
  20. Mike DelPonte

Best of Show:

  • Dave Chapdelaine’s NEPRO-designed Formula 1 "Tom Cat" won Best of Show.

Acknowledgments:

  • Thanks to Contest Director Ron Schorr and the host club, The Valley Flyers. Mike Helsel assisted with the matrix. If you missed this event, start building for the 1996 racing season — see you next year.

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.