STOL Race Class

STOL (Short TakeOff and Landing) Drag Racing is a new class of racing at Reno.  At the time of this year's races, it was more of an exhibition show, however it didn't take long for the class pilots and the crowd to express their enjoyment with the format.  It is now an official class or racing.
Apparently STOL racing has been going on for a few years in the high deserts of Nevada.  There is a group of pilots who get together who test their skills, and aircraft, at an event called the High Sierra Fly-In.
The racing aircraft are working aircraft.  These aircraft are flown every day.  Many of the modifications appear to be 'home made' to make the aircraft more versatile.  The goal is to get into and out of places no one else can.   For the pilots, there are hundreds of flight hours involved.
The drag race is between two aircraft over a 2,000 foot, plus or minus a few, straight line course.  The goal is to start at a point, take off, fly the 2k foot distance, land past a point such as a painted line, come to a complete stop on the line of flight with the tail wheel on the ground, turn the aircraft around with power while keeping the tail wheel on the ground, fly to the start line and stop in the line of flight.  The end of the race is the first aircraft to come to a stop and get the tail wheel on the ground.  Got it?
When the rules were explained to me, I didn't connect the dots right away.  But after seeing one race, I could see there is much more strategy involved that just going fast and turning left.  Not that is anything wrong with that.
Strategy points:  Get to speed quickly.  Lose that speed quickly.  Stop without running the propeller into the ground by tipping the aircraft forward.  Add enough power to turn airplane 180 degrees, while keeping tail wheel on the ground.  Much of the strategy can't be seen from the viewing stands.  One strategy that can be seen is the post take off acceleration and the pre-landing slow down.   And it is fun to watch.
After the take off phase, prior to landing the pilot will literally throw the aircraft sideways to slow it down.  And keep it moving toward the landing area.
The drag race course was the unpaved area between the taxi way and active runway.
These shots are all pretty much the same settings, 1/320 seconds, f/13.

Usually in these races, you can't tell who the winner is.  There really is no finish line, per se.  First one to stop.