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Well, since I'm four years into my book project on the Unlimited races at Mojave, I'll toss in my two-cents worth.
Lacy and Woodard did not come up with the idea for the California 1000. That was devised over lunch at the Lockheed Skunkworks at Palmdale between Darryl Greenamyer, Chuck Hall, Tony LeVier, and Fish Salmon...all of whom were Lockheed test pilots. Greenamyer thought out loud how cool it would be to have a race with pit-stops....and that was the genesis of it. Since they did all their test flying in and around Palmdale/Edwards AFB, they were all familiar with the facilities at Mojave and figured that would be the perfect place for it. Greenamyer, Hall, and Adam Robbins formed the company that put on all three of the 1000 mile/km races in 1970 and 71.
Clay and Allen Paulson came up with the idea for Super Snoopy and were fortunate enough to have Omni come on as co-sponsor (since Paulson's American Jet Industries was also involved). The idea for the DC-7 was to find something that could go the race non-stop, but was 'different' enough that it could generate publicity for the races....which it most certainly did.
The first race at Mojave was in October 1970. Thirty six aircraft entered, twenty started--which was the largest number of planes on the course at one time ever....before or since. 66 laps over a 15 mile course.
Sherm Cooper's Sea Fury had originally been modified by Mike Carroll as a transcon racer, so it (like the Dave Zeuschel/Cliff Cummins "Maytag Mustang") could fly the race non-stop. The only other plane that could do it was the DC-7. But as I understand it, Joe Matos (Lacy's flight engineer) majorly over-estimated the fuel needed for the race, and so they had several thousand pounds extra weight to lug around.
Cooper won the race by five laps over second place Cummins....and that included a cut pylon on the first lap of the race and taking the time to go re-circle the #5 pylon on the backside of the course (which had been designated as the 'un-lapping' pylon if you were called for a cut). Clay finished sixth, six laps down. Even if he had carried less fuel, the best he could have finished was third, as there were only three other planes on the 60th lap at the finish...there's no way he could have made up a lap on Cummins, and certainly no way he (or anyone) could have caught up with Cooper. The race lasted over three hours.
In May of '71 Robbins and Greenamyer promoted the United States Cup at Brown Field in San Diego. It was another 1000 mile race (100 laps on a 10 lap course). Because Cooper had beaten everyone by several laps at Mojave, the rules were changed to say that every competitor had to make at least one pit stop. This took away any advantage from the flying gas tanks. Lyle Shelton mounted some Skyraider drop tanks on his Bearcat to increase the range, but during the race it really threw the c.g. out of whack and he struggled to keep the plane under control until the fuel in the tanks burned off. Lacy showed up with the DC-7 again, this time with Fish Salmon in a Constellation called 'Red Baron' (foil to Snoopy, naturally). But Howie Keefe led a group of pilots who complained that the DC-7 had put out dangerous wake turbulance at Mojave and that several pilots had been effected by it...so ultimately the two airliners were 'legislated out' of the field on the day of the race. Cooper won the race again in the Sea Fury, but only because of fueling miscalculations on the part of Darryl Greenamyer and Bob Love in their respective Mustangs. The race was marred by the fatal crash of Mike Geren in Ron Reynold's Bearcat.
By the way, the picture that MX 304 included shows Lacy flying Super Snoopy against Darryl Greenamyer's "Smirnoff" dragster...with an engine built by Dave Zeuschel. You know the pick-up races they have at airshows with Smok'n Thunder versus an airplane? This was how they did it 'old school'. This was at San Diego the morning of the race, after they had determined they weren't going to allow Clay to race.
Greenamyer and Robbins tried it again at Mojave in October '71, but this time they reduced the race to 1000 km. The three + hour endurance races to go 1000 miles was too much on the pilots, so they shortened it to 44 laps around the 15 mile Mojave course. Sherm Cooper's Sea Fury had an engine failure during qualification and he had to put it down in the puckerbushes on the backside of the course (about 5 miles away from the airport)...which collapsed the gear and dinged the plane something bad. The weather for the race was down in the 40's and very windy...so only about 6,000 people showed up. Frank Sanders won in his #232 Sea Fury (which is now September Fury).
Robbins and Greenamyer lost a lot of money putting on these three 'distance' races, so ultimately they gave up. Two years later Clay Lacy, Dick Sykes, and Lyle Shelton formed Air Race Management. ARM put on the California Air Classic races at Mojave from 1973-79. These were multi-class races that were patterned after the Reno program. They suffered from the same issues that effected the 1000 mile/km races at Mojave....out in the middle of nowhere, too far away from Los Angeles to draw a big crowd, no lodging facilities nearby, and wind, wind, WIND.
The P-38 that Agent 86 refers to was the late Gary Levitz's plane. That was the only P-38 that ever participated in the racing at any of the Mojave races...1970, 71, 73, and 74.
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Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives, and I decline......
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