Unlimited Silly Season 2022 - It's Here!

[RAD2LTR]

Re: Unlimited Silly Season 2022 - It's Here!

It appears that the rumors of Czech Mate returning might be true, but perhaps not. I have it on good authority that Stevo is not under consideration for pilots, if it happens. That said, don't be surprised if they are there on the ramp either. Something is up, anyone near Shafter to go take a looksee?

Will

[THE BEARMAN #77]

Re: Unlimited Silly Season 2022 - It's Here!

Talk about exciting!!!

[GRNDP51]

Re: Unlimited Silly Season 2022 - It's Here!

Fraed Naught is not coming back this year, not sure about Endeavor. Jeff Rose is making good progress on the new biplane, but it won't be ready until 2023 at the earliest. Jeff will be racing a stock-ish Pitts this year.

Thx for the updates, sucks about Fraed Naught.

[Race5]

Re: Unlimited Silly Season 2022 - It's Here!

Agreed Will, Unlimited Gold should have some exciting races within the race. I'm hoping to see Shanty Irish, Sweet and Lovely, and Barbara Jean all be a little faster than the "stockers", filling in where Goldfinger was (even if not as fast as Goldfinger, there was a noticable gap between Goldfinger and the stockers).

I haven't talked about Sport much because for once last year proved that the top 3 all have a pretty solid and reliable combo and there might not be extreme room for improvement anymore. That being said, it will be cool to see if we see some experimentation within that top 3 to try to take their mods further. I haven't heard if Relentless is coming back, but Race 181 has a new engine and Karl is going back to a normal Legacy cowling so that should be a little nicer to watch lol. Besides that it's a toss up with what other gold contenders show up.

F1 will hopefully see Fraed Naught and Endeavor back to have the competitive top 4 again.
Biplane I haven't heard anything about Phantom, but assuming the class should look pretty similar to last year.
T6 looks like they're going to have a pretty big field (enough for bronze again), and a competitive Gold field as usual. Talks of Midnight Miss III getting some "mods" to try to take her back to the front.

Besides this, I'm sure you probably know Jeff Rose (I think) is building a Biplane to take on Phantom and it's getting pretty close. There are also a handful of F1 projects that could be Gold contenders once finished. Lastly, there are one or two NXT kits that could be all-out racers, but the info is spotty. Would be cool if Guardian Angel takes the route of Rapid Travel - the owner stepped up from his RV into the TM this year, maybe he wants even more speed

Unlimited seems to be the talk this year - and I'm totally ok with that. Every other class is a little stagnant, but the Gold field is continually competitive in EVERY class, and I think that's a good spot to be at, even if the classes aren't expanding.

Fraed Naught is not coming back this year, not sure about Endeavor. Jeff Rose is making good progress on the new biplane, but it won't be ready until 2023 at the earliest. Jeff will be racing a stock-ish Pitts this year.

[GRNDP51]

Re: Unlimited Silly Season 2022 - It's Here!

I love the idea of this thread! We see this in every other sport and its so nice to see here. There is a lot more talk about the Unlimited class this year than we have had in a while. All I can say is its exciting!

LJ

Glad to have you back here LJ.

If you wanted to expand on PRS discussions without getting yourself in trouble, I don't think anyone here would mind

[GRNDP51]

Re: Unlimited Silly Season 2022 - It's Here!

I think the Unlimited Gold race on Sunday is going to be a fantastic race. Perhaps not a 500mph barn burner but there should be a good close race for 1-3, 4-5, and from there is anyone's guess. I'm not sure Shanty Irish can be called much more than stock, but I'll guess it will have a spray bar on it. Still, the sound of an Allison on the course is pretty sweet. The unknowns are Jim Rust and Jeff Lavelle. I spoke briefly with Jeff at PRS and he said the plane was just a stocker. There have been whispers around that he's up to something, but I have no clue if those whispers hold any truth or not.

Any word on the Sport, T6, Bipes or IF1s? I know there are a couple new pilots in the IF1s, and long time Reno veteran "Quad Nickel" aka Race 45 is now owned by Jake Speidel who was looking good on Friday. (Is Quad Nickel the oldest IF1 still racing? I know its been around for a VERY long time.) Race 52 "Feisty" has a new owner, Trent Woodworth who crewed for "Monkey Ninja" last year and got hooked, so he bought Feisty and did PRS this year. He looked really good by Friday and seems pretty pumped to be racing this fall. On that note, Monkey Ninja has a new owner, who's name escapes me. He looked like he was having fun at PRS.

Will

Agreed Will, Unlimited Gold should have some exciting races within the race. I'm hoping to see Shanty Irish, Sweet and Lovely, and Barbara Jean all be a little faster than the "stockers", filling in where Goldfinger was (even if not as fast as Goldfinger, there was a noticable gap between Goldfinger and the stockers).

I haven't talked about Sport much because for once last year proved that the top 3 all have a pretty solid and reliable combo and there might not be extreme room for improvement anymore. That being said, it will be cool to see if we see some experimentation within that top 3 to try to take their mods further. I haven't heard if Relentless is coming back, but Race 181 has a new engine and Karl is going back to a normal Legacy cowling so that should be a little nicer to watch lol. Besides that it's a toss up with what other gold contenders show up.

F1 will hopefully see Fraed Naught and Endeavor back to have the competitive top 4 again.
Biplane I haven't heard anything about Phantom, but assuming the class should look pretty similar to last year.
T6 looks like they're going to have a pretty big field (enough for bronze again), and a competitive Gold field as usual. Talks of Midnight Miss III getting some "mods" to try to take her back to the front.

Besides this, I'm sure you probably know Jeff Rose (I think) is building a Biplane to take on Phantom and it's getting pretty close. There are also a handful of F1 projects that could be Gold contenders once finished. Lastly, there are one or two NXT kits that could be all-out racers, but the info is spotty. Would be cool if Guardian Angel takes the route of Rapid Travel - the owner stepped up from his RV into the TM this year, maybe he wants even more speed

Unlimited seems to be the talk this year - and I'm totally ok with that. Every other class is a little stagnant, but the Gold field is continually competitive in EVERY class, and I think that's a good spot to be at, even if the classes aren't expanding.

[Mus262]

Re: Unlimited Silly Season 2022 - It's Here!

I love the idea of this thread! We see this in every other sport and its so nice to see here. There is a lot more talk about the Unlimited class this year than we have had in a while. All I can say is its exciting!

LJ

[RAD2LTR]

Re: Unlimited Silly Season 2022 - It's Here!

I think the Unlimited Gold race on Sunday is going to be a fantastic race. Perhaps not a 500mph barn burner but there should be a good close race for 1-3, 4-5, and from there is anyone's guess. I'm not sure Shanty Irish can be called much more than stock, but I'll guess it will have a spray bar on it. Still, the sound of an Allison on the course is pretty sweet. The unknowns are Jim Rust and Jeff Lavelle. I spoke briefly with Jeff at PRS and he said the plane was just a stocker. There have been whispers around that he's up to something, but I have no clue if those whispers hold any truth or not.

Any word on the Sport, T6, Bipes or IF1s? I know there are a couple new pilots in the IF1s, and long time Reno veteran "Quad Nickel" aka Race 45 is now owned by Jake Speidel who was looking good on Friday. (Is Quad Nickel the oldest IF1 still racing? I know its been around for a VERY long time.) Race 52 "Feisty" has a new owner, Trent Woodworth who crewed for "Monkey Ninja" last year and got hooked, so he bought Feisty and did PRS this year. He looked really good by Friday and seems pretty pumped to be racing this fall. On that note, Monkey Ninja has a new owner, who's name escapes me. He looked like he was having fun at PRS.

Will

[GRNDP51]

This is the first year in awhile that Silly Season does in fact feel like Silly Season... There's a lot of talk circulating, and here are all of the highlights -

Race #11 "Miss America" - Thanks to Mark, we already have a pretty good idea about what is going on with Miss A this year. It sounds like Brent wants to make sure the plane is fast enough to beat Dreadnought without any question. The airframe and engine package may be as ready as they've ever been, but it will also come down to Brent's strategy on the course. Miss A could end up being a seriously fast plane, and it might take Brent a few days on the course to get a good grasp on this new horse. The thing is, Dreadnought might not be the issue this year...

Race #8 "Dreadnought" - The talk after last year's race was that Dreadnought was on the verge of being flat out and possibly overheating on the last lap. How much more is actually left? 10mph without risking it? 426 on Sunday, 430 in qualifying, 435-440 max maybe???

Race 86 "Czech Mate" - Yep, that's right... There's been social media chatter from those in the know that John Moore is very much considering bringing back Czech Mate this year, to the point that it's currently being prepped "just in case". Also talk of Stevo at the stick. Is it Czech Mate's race to lose? If Brent has a spot in front of Dreadnought come Sunday, is Miss A going to be fast enough to keep up?

Race 26 "Rushin' Thunder" - A new favorite of mine after watching videos from PRS. Scotty Crandlemire doesn't seem to be messing around with his R-2000 Yak-11. Talks of ADI, nitrous, etc., this is getting fun! Is it a competitor for the Gold win? Unlikely, but it's a VERY good "keep everyone in the Gold race honest" type plane, and will likely be pushing (and likely passing) Argonaut and 924, maybe even tagging along behind the top 3 if those mods come to fruition.

That's some of the talk I've heard about the 400mph club so far, but the rest of the Unlimited class is not a bunch of stock Mustangs this year either - Dusty is hoping to bring "Shanty Irish" back, and the restoration did include a few "extras" for Reno. "Sweet and Lovely" has been sitting happily stock at POF, but who's to say what Jeff has planned. Same goes for Jim Rust and "Barbara Jean".

And we still aren't done!

Vicky is cautiously optimistic that "Race 64" will be finished in time. I don't know if the restoration includes any race mods (my expectation was a similar setup to Goldfinger).

And LASTLY, there is still hope for Sam Davis' R-2000 Yak-11 "Miss Trinidad" to be ready as well. I believe John Maloney was at PRS - if this is true it's a good sign that the team is hopeful it'll be ready (it is being restored at Chino, and has not yet flown). Throw that plane into 400mph club as well to push the top 3 with Scotty.

It seems like we're on the path to keep totally stock Mustangs out of the Unlimited Gold, something that will be a plus for safety, and the good mix of competition will keep everyone honest and prevent "parading" around the course if you want to finish in a good spot.

Anything else?!?!?!?!