Most unfortunate. This is from todays AVflash: quote
RENO AIR RACES, 2002: The great air races cancelled last year returned .again to the skies near Reno, Nev., September 12-15. The pilots faced stiff winds of 26 knots with higher gusts and yielded Dago Red, a modified P-51 piloted by Skip Holm, as winner of the Unlimited Class Gold. Second was taken by September Fury, flown by Mike Brown. And third was Voodoo, with Matt Jackson at the controls. Crowd favorite
Strega, flown by Bill "Tiger" Destafani, declared a Mayday on Lap One, and executed an early, but otherwise safe, landing.
Four-year veteran Tommy Rose met a less forgiving fate. Rose was killed Friday afternoon on the fifth lap while flying his Questair Venture in a Sports Class race for custom and kit-built aircraft. His death marked the first fatality in Sport Class racing since its debut at Reno in 1998. unquote