I was directly below the P51 when it pulled up went inverted and dove into the ground. I thought it was going to hit our section of the stands but it hit 300 ft away. My wife had just left a box in front of the stands 15 minutes prior to join me in the stands that was 100 ft from the impact point. A few of my friends were injured slightly that stayed in the box but had blood and flesh on their clothing from the people who took a direct strike. I was in a war in Vietnam and never experienced the shock of seeing my friends covered with blood and in one case flesh on his clothing. It was going over 500 mph when it went in at an 80 degree angle. We have been coming to Reno for the Air Races 12 years straight but have a bad feeling this is it.
I hope I am wrong on the races being over. It is our favorite annual activity. I saw the whole thing and it looked like a mechanical problem, not a pilot one. I personally know a lot of the unlimited racers. One was the kid I soloed on his 16th birthday in the 70's. The other, Steve Hinton, took me on two P51 rides in the same time period when I was putting him through an instrument pilot course.