RADIO CONTROL: PYLON RACING
Wayne Yeager 15387 Forrister Rd., Clayton, MI 49235
AH, THE NATS! Heat, rain (maybe), sunburn (for sure), and lotsa pylon racing.
Racing at this year's Nats was different compared to the past two years—and what a difference! For years the Nats was staffed by volunteers from all over the country who, for the most part, performed very well. Unfortunately, the volunteer pool ran dry, and the last couple of years found us appealing to contestants for help as our staff was short here and there.
A plan was hatched to utilize contestants in the same manner as other venues (sailplane, helicopter, etc.). Contestants in Quarter and Quickie were divided into two matrices, with one working while the other flew. The system did work, with some minor flaws.
This Nats we returned to the old system because Mike Stokes scoured the Indianapolis area and recruited a work crew large enough that double-matrixing was not necessary. Bill Gallagher was the starter all week and really made the difference. Bill ran things with a velvet-covered fist, and racing ran smoothly. Bill was in charge, and he knew what he was doing.
Quickie 500
Quickie 500 began on Monday morning, July 13, with 76 entries—the exact number NMPRA decided would be allowed to register. Although a few registered above this number, there are always no-shows, and 76 ended up being the precise attendance.
Eight rounds were flown. "The Sheriff," Richard Verano, returned after a year on the trail. Richard and Dave Shadel were tied in points, both with perfect scores until the final flights. Shadel led by virtue of a faster time (1:12.01 to Richard's 1:13.76) until Richard tamed a 1:11.84 on his last flight, moving him past Dave (who is Richard's caller) and into first. Dave could have called protective, conservative turns to preserve first place, but instead he called a great heat and lost out to his friend and partner.
Quickie racing was intense. A few newcomers made strong showings—Jeff Adamisin, a young pilot to be reckoned with, and Jaime de LaVega from south of the border. Jaime (with partner Luis Garcia Blake) finished in the top ten after learning from conversations with Verano and Shadel about how to turn pylons two and three. As Dave put it, "I think we made a mistake, and it appears we created a monster."
A by-product of intense racing is midairs—no one yields space, and the battle for the same sky sometimes ends in contact. Pylon location usually results in a checkmate, but that's the price of fierce competition.
Quickie 500 top finishers:
- 1st: Richard Verano
- 2nd: Dave Shadel
- 3rd: Jeff Adamisin
A note of appreciation: Sarah Benham volunteered to help on a pylon and spent several hours in a pylon cage. Nice job!
For Verano, winning Quickie was a milestone—he had won all four events last year, and this win made it five straight Nats event wins.
Quarter 40
The third day of racing started with Quarter 40. Great color schemes and smooth gloss coats were prevalent; credit is due to the pilots who continue the beautiful, high-quality finishes that Formula I has long showcased.
Quarter began with a very large field—68 contestants, only eight fewer than Quickie. The competition started among pilots such as Steve Baker, Mike Helsel, Gary Gau, and Paul Benezra, and after eight rounds the leaders included Robert Miller, Harold Sattler, Bob Brogdon, and Charlie Anderson. No one was perfect given the high competition level, and racing was fierce with no quarter given in the airspace.
In the end, "The Sheriff" had his string of Nats wins broken after losing two heats to other competitors. Dave Shadel tied with Jim Allen for the fewest losses. Because Shadel and Allen agreed not to fly off against each other, Shadel was declared the winner since he held a faster time than Allen.
Third place was decided in a flyoff between Darnell Cady and Richard Verano. Verano did much of the chasing but clipped a turn while trying to catch up, leaving Cady with a satisfying win. It's not often The Sheriff loses outright, so beating him is a notable accomplishment.
Formula I
Formula I had 18 entries and used a five-heat matrix. The weather was perfect. Drew Jerina won Best Finish for his immaculate Kaze model—he has won this award many times and deservedly so; his models are consistently beautiful.
Early heats featured pilots such as Brogdon, Kane Jr., and Sperry; Kane Jr. barely edged Brogdon with times of 1:13.40 to 1:13.55.
Only five rounds were scheduled, which made scoring especially important: if you didn't win or finish second in a heat, you likely fell out of trophy contention. The result was close, exciting racing.
In Round Two only Richard Verano and Dave Shadel won heats. Richard also set Fast Time for the meet at 1:05.63—a mark that held up as the best. (Side note: Richard was .07 second faster with his Quarter Midget.)
At the end, Verano and Shadel were tied for first. Because they call for each other, they refuse to fly off against one another; Richard was awarded the event win by virtue of the faster time. Mike Helsel finished third, two points back.
Category Championship Clarification
Because Richard won two events, it was initially concluded he was the Category Champion. On reflection and after tallying scores, the totals showed otherwise:
- Richard Verano: two wins (10 points each) plus a fourth-place finish in Quarter = 27 points.
- Dave Shadel: one win in Quarter (10 points) plus second place in Quickie (9 points) and second in Formula I (9 points) = 28 points.
A call to AMA HQ confirmed the scoring error. Steve Klauf assured that another trophy would be cut and mailed to Dave, along with a letter of apology.
Conclusion
Other than that scoring glitch, racing at the '98 Nats was superb. Those who didn't attend missed a great event.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
