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And- "The THRILL of Victory"!................................
To cap-off the series of Reno circa-1984 STILETTO photographs, here's some of Skip Holm & the Race #84 crew 'savoring the moment' following their team's amazing Unlimited Gold Championship win with their radically-modified (ala-Post-WW2 Cleveland Anson Johnson formula) magic rookie Mustang. All pics taken Sun. 9/16/84. Alot of really great warbird folks joined forces to be on this air race team! One of my favorites is of the- 'Stiletto Gals' enjoying themselves, with 'Jeannie' Sanders & Annette Zeuschel at right.
A genuine moment of joy: seeing an elated Skipper - hoisting up his very young son - Sky Holm, before all his fans & well-wishers. BuckyD
(P.S. - Thanks for all your kind compliments, which I appreciate v. much! DBD)
I hope this works, not too computer savvy. First one is of Mr. Boland showing Skip the missing rudder trim tab, second one is of Stiletto on the course "blowing oil ', I was in the pits later and saw Dave looking at the plugs proclaiming there was nothing wrong with the motor.
As you now know - N332 was retro-converted into a beautiful TF-51, and here's a photo of her reappearance at Reno 1997 NCAR as Race #32.
Alan Preston qualified her on Mon. 9/8/97 at 326.06-mph, too slow to make the class racing field that year. (He opted to race the MOF Bearcat Race #204).
Photo was taken Mon. 9/15/97, of her taxiing-out for departure from Stead. BuckyD
A few Reno '85 STILETTO pics........................
The Race #84 Team was amazingly- 'Lucky' to win a NCAR Gold Trophy with their 'right-out-of-the-box' rookie high-mod Unlimited (- & bypassing the usual multi-year 'test & teething' period required for most newly-built exotic Unlimiteds to reach top-contender status). These gremlins caught up with them in 1985- preventing the Stilletto gang from defending their Gold Champion crown, though Skip Holm qualified #84 second-fastest at 442.479-mph (behind Neil Anderson in Race #8 Dreadnought @ 443.129-mph & just ahead of Skip's 1984 rival- Rick Brickert in #4 Dago Red @ 442.008-mph, 3rd-fastest qualifier). Race #84 got a DNS in the 1985 Gold Final when her main gear wouldn't retract after takeoff for the start of the race. Fans will long remember this race being surprisingly-won by Steve Hinton in #1 Super Corsair, after leader Neil Anderson in #8 Dreadnought mistakenly cut Outer 8 Pylon on the final turn of the 8-lap final.
The first three shots were taken Sun. 9/15/85:
1. Skip Holm sits in #84's cockpit as Stiletto gets towed past the Home Pylon to her spot in the Gold final lineup before the grandstands.
2. Reno 1985 Unlimited Gold contenders (L-R): #84 Stiletto/P-Skip Holm, #25 Thunderbird/P-Lefty Gardner, #6 Sumthin' Else/P-John Crocker, #7 Strega/P-Ron Hevle, #11 Miss America/P-Bud Granley, #15 Furias/P-Lloyd Hamilton, #4 Dago Red/P-Rick Brickert, #1 Super Corsair/P-Steve Hinton, #8 Dreadnought/P-Neil Anderson & Bob Hoover's 'Old Yeller' P-51 Pace Plane.
3. Gold Unlimiteds staged for takeoff on main runway as Hoover buzzes over them ('Let's Go Racin'!). Fans need to keep in mind that during this Reno racing era, the Unlimited Class Gold field was really stacked with many 'heavy-hitter' race contenders, and taking home a Gold Trophy was quite an accomplishment!
4. Two photos of Skip Holm & Stiletto taking-off for departure from Stead on Mon. 9/16/85. (Great 3/4-frontal angle & R/H profile showing stock P-51 belly-scoop removal mod for comparison).
5. Last shot is another good R/H profile of Skip driving Race #84 down along the fast West Chute (aka-'Valley of Speed') on Mon. 9/9/85 during Unlimited qualifying period. Racing colors for '85 were essentially the same as the year before (save for a few embellishments here & there).
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