At the end of the closest race in the 51-year history of the National Championship Air Races, seven-time race champion Tiger Destefani came within a spinner’s length of stealing first place from rival and one-time protégé Steve Hinton. The photo finish ... came at the end of Saturday’s Unlimited Gold Race, run to determine positions for the final championship event the following day, Sunday, September 14. After flying a high course for all eight laps, Destefani, in the red-and-white Mustang Strega—which Destefani owns and Hinton flew to four straight Gold wins beginning in 2009—traded altitude for speed and plunged toward...