• Biplane"3D-07-27-08-0002a spray plane at Cherokee, Iowa" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: jimf0390 (Jim Frost) under the Creative Commons Attribution license.
  
  

Founder

• Nevada celebrated the centennial of its statehood in 1964. Nevada rancher and aviator Bill Stead revived the National Air Races as part of that celebration.
  
  

Location

• For the first two years, the races were held at Sky Ranch, a short dirt landing strip near Sparks, Nev. The races moved to their present location at Reno Stead Airport, the former Stead Air Force Base, in 1966.
  
  

Events

• Events in the first Reno Air Races included a cross country race, pylon races, aerobatics, skydiving and precision flying performances. Today's events are races in six plane classes, demonstrations and exhibitions.
  
  

Scoring

• The original scoring method was a points system modeled after that used in powerboat racing. Because this allowed a pilot to win based on points rather than fastest time, scoring was changed in 1965.
  
  

Fatalities

• There have been 19 deaths in the Reno event's history. The greatest number of fatalities occurred in 2007, when three pilots were killed in separate accidents.
  
  

Fun Fact

• Stead Air Force Base was named for Bill Stead's brother, Croston Stead.