Tiger was born and raised in Bakersfield, CA. He is a cotton and alfalfa farmer and restores WWII aircraft. He went to his first Reno Air Race as a pilot in 1980 in a stock P-51 called "Mange Pane".

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David lives in Bakersfield, California. He joined team Strega in 1988, and became Crew Chief in 1999. Currently David owns Valley Aircraft Maintenance & Repair, which rebuilds warbird airplanes. L.D. handles all design modification of the airplane and also works on engine and sheet metal fabrication.

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Steve Hinton was born in 1987 and has literally grown up at the Reno Air Races since he was born. He met Bill Destefani during the Air Races in 2004. He volunteered his time on weekends and during holidays from school to help out on the race plane whether it was waxing or riveting, and was offered a position on the crew for the 2005 season. Since then he has gained experience working on P-51's and Rolls-Royce Merlin engines which has enabled him to take a more diverse role on the team. In December 2007 Bill and LD presented Steve with the chance of a lifetime: to take Strega into the skies over Shafter and try her out for the first time. After several hours behind the stick the team went to the Pylon Racing Seminar in 2008 where he became qualified as an Unlimited Class race pilot and was given the opportunity to fly the race course for the first time as the pilot of Race 7. With Tiger's "retirement" after his 7th National Championship in 2008 Steve found himself in the right place at the right time and was offered the duties of racing the winningest Mustang in Reno's history.

To contact Steve:

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Lyle has been interested and involved with aircraft his entire life. He first became involved with Strega as a kid in 1993, helping out around the shop and cleaning the airplane. His first Reno was in 1996, helping out in the pits with Strega, and he crewed for Huntress III the next year. He worked at the Bird’s Nest restoring Stearmans throughout Jr. High and High School on the weekends. While living in Paso Robles he worked for Antique Aero scratch building WWI fighters, and maintaining a Corsair and Grumman Avenger. From 2002 to 2008 he worked for Massey Aircraft Service building experimental airplanes, maintaining general aviation aircraft and restoring two BT-13s. He is an avid warbird and helicopter collector. Lyle officially joined the Strega crew in 2009 and also crewed for the Yak-11 Czech Mate. In the off-season he restores P-51s and other warbirds with LD Hughes at Valley Aircraft in Shafter.

Bill was born and raised in Bakersfield, CA. He fell in love with air racing in 1988 when he discovered Strega at the Shafter Airport. Around this time Bill was on the Board of Directors of Minter Field Air Museum which lead to his involvement with Robert Converse and Huntress III. Bill spent a lot time around the Shafter Airport which became his 2nd home, making many lifelong friends in the process. 1988 was the first of Bill's 21 consecutive years of attending Reno. Many of these years were spent in the pits helping where needed. In 2007 he was invited to join Team Strega and has been a asset to the team ever since. Bill will always be grateful to Tiger & L.D. for the opportunity to crew on the World's Fastest Mustang! And Bill would like to express his appreciation for the friendship of the other crew members and their families.

To Contact Bill:

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Tom, a retired detective from Los Angeles joined Team Strega in 2006. He has been an avid Reno fan for 30 years and a pilot for as long. He once was serious about becoming a professional disc jockey at a Caribbean bar, but, as seen in the picture, gave it up and let the other guy take over so he could devote his full attention to Strega.

Having a strong background in metal fabrication, he has built parts for many planes, including Tsunami and Rare Bear. Once familiar with Tiger and the team, he knew the “Others” were only coming to Reno for the casinos. He now cooks gourmet treats for the rest of the crew while skillfully hogging out exceptional speed secrets for the fastest Reno racer ever.