At Reno do the flyers still direct energy towards the audience? Has a fatality involving the audience occured?

Answer 1

Racers at Reno make the last pylon turn onto the home straightaway about a mile from the left edge of the audience line and make the next turn about 1/2 mile past the right edge of the audience line. Therefore energy is not directed toward the audience at any time. There are homes in Lemon Valley that are outside the turn path from pylon 1 (ref. an accident involving an in-flight breakup of Gary Levitz's aircraft a few years ago,)

As far as I know there has never been a fatal spectator accident at Reno. I believe that the last one was at the Cleveland Air Races over 40 years ago when a race aircraft crashed into a house, fatally injuring some of the occupants.

They never raced at Cleveland again...