Sunday at the 2004 Reno National Championships Air Races started off with the weather taking a turn for the worse.
Freezing cold wind and rain started coming down on the field, and snow started to blanketing Peavine mountain. The upcoming races started getting some logistical changes. The gold race start was moved up to an earlier time due to the weather turning bad. The racers had to deal with cold windy conditions, with rain coming down in the valley of speed.
Skip in Dago Red took the early lead but ended up cutting a pylon due to bad visibility from condensation building up on his canopy. John Penney in Rare Bear went on to win their 5th gold victory with Mike Brown in September Fury coming in 3rd place.