By Emme Hornung

The 28th annual AirVenture Cup Race looked a bit different this year due to the smoky conditions in America’s Midwest, but pilots and their aircraft still got to show their speed on the first leg of the race.

In typical years, pilots and their aircraft depart on a cross-country race across Wisconsin and Michigan, hitting intermediate checkpoints along the way. From first-timers to experienced competitors, the race invites participants of all flying backgrounds and aircraft of various performance levels, split into competitive classes based on certification type, engine, induction, and landing gear.

The 2026 race was first delayed from Sunday, July 19, to Monday, July 20, in hopes the smoke would clear enough to allow for the required 6 miles of visibility. Mother Nature had other plans; however, racers were able to fly the first leg of the race. Taking off from Wausau Downtown Airport (KAUW), racers flew the 46-mile leg to Shawano Municipal (KEZS).

More information about the race can be found at AirVentureCupRace.com.

The 2026 results are as follows:

Race Number	Aircraft	Tail Number	Pilot	Total Time	Avg Speed (mph)
Experimental Classes:
Sport
6	Lancair Legacy	N385AS	Joe Coraggio & Kevin Vernon-Harris	0:11:04	288.67
44	Lancair Legacy	C-GOBM	Burt & Joey Hodgins	0:12:26	256.94
546	Glasair III	N9KK	Marvin & Sarah Wessel	0:12:39	252.53
Rocket F1
39	Rocket F1	N39EJ	John Andersen	0:14:01	227.91
Formula RG White
55	Lancair 360	N54SG	Nick Biondo	0:12:12	261.85
Formula RG Blue
69	Lancair 360	N76MT	Leith & Lewis Stevens	0:14:22	222.36
Formula RG Red
451	Lancair 320	N9MG	William & Eric Rossmann	0:14:03	227.37
Formula FX Blue
902	Velocity SE	N902SC	Steve Campbell	0:16:40	191.67
Formula FX Red
83	Long-EZ	N83DT	Dave Adams	0:14:04	227.1
7V	Long-EZ	N755DK	Jorgen Skovbjerg	0:14:19	223.14
112	Long-EZ	N12LZ	Joe & Matt Conlon	0:14:24	221.84
93	Long-EZ	N893LT	Rich Lamb & Bella Erikson	0:14:34	219.31
96	Long-EZ	N96LZ	Scott & Bill Snyder	0:14:36	218.81
333	Long-EZ	N79YT	James Springer	0:15:01	212.73
Formula CZ
321	Cozy Mk IV	N881BB	Bob Bittner	0:14:14	224.44
95	Cozy Mk IV	N724CZ	Michael Satchell	0:14:57	213.68
498	Cozy Mk IV	N9825W	Matt Bunch	0:15:53	201.13
RV Gold
4	RV-4	N230A	Dave Anders	0:12:59	246.05
RV White
390	RV-8	N51XP	Matthew & Angela King	0:14:41	217.56
34	RV-14A	N9314A	John Schultz	0:15:11	210.4
RV Blue
TF	RV-4	N999BT	Brent & Kristi Travis	0:13:58	228.73
3Y	RV-6	N958L	James Lipman	0:15:13	209.94
32	RV-8	N282RC	Ron & Tanya Cardwell	0:15:41	203.69
Pi 3.14	RV-7A	N782WP	Kevin Phelps & David Walsh	0:16:38	192.06
RV Red
67H	RV-6	N700JL	Jonathan & Aerin Hubbell	0:15:19	208.57
Sportsman
191	Sonex Waiex	N191YX	Bryan & Adam Cotton	0:22:00	145.21
Factory Classes:
Turbine Single
76X	Kodiak 100	N223QK	Jason Rovey & Seth Baker	0:15:17	209.02
Twin 1T
341	Aerostar	N700TE	Alli & Sid Doerner	0:13:11	242.32
FAC1RG
200	Meyers 200D	N259M	Jamon Pruitt	0:14:36	218.81
FAC1FX
311	Cirrus SR22	N952SV	Hal Lange Jr.	0:15:37	204.56
Skywagon
84	Cessna 185F	N4354R	Allen & Laura Floyd	0:17:53	178.63
FAC2RG
250	Piper PA-24	N6607P	Dan Haumesser & Steven Lange	0:15:54	200.92
26X	Piper PA-24	N260PC	Rob Asen	0:16:35	192.64
FAC3RG-T
82	Piper Arrow IV Turbo	N82301	Jonathan Hudik	0:18:35	171.9
FAC3RG
651	Piper PA-28R-200	N8651E	Mike & Kathy Schoen	0:18:31	172.52
FAC3FX
58	Cessna 182M	N182ZM	Michael &Tyler Unertl	0:18:56	168.73
FAC4RG
662	Mooney M20C	N6620C	Steven & Collin Dieck	0:18:05	176.66
FAC4FX
605	Grumman Tiger	N74591	David Stuart & Vinnie Elsinger	0:19:27	164.24
53	Cessna 172M	N13558	Thomas Wood & Jacob Buemi	0:20:57	152.49
FAC5
74	Piper Warrior	N4488X	Jake & Erin Silker	0:23:05	138.39
Heavy Metal – T-34
334	Beechcraft T-34A	N4002F	Patrick Doyle & Bob Dieck	0:19:16	165.81