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MIRA LOMA, Calif. -- Promising rookie sports car racer Paul Mumford was one of two men killed when the small plane he was piloting crashed and burned this week, a close friend said Thursday.
Mumford, 31, of Yorba Linda, was with Chris Premer, 31, of Costa Mesa, said fellow racer Brian Provost. Provost said the two men were good friends.
Riverside County officials declined to release the names of those aboard the Piper Cherokee that crashed Wednesday, three miles from Chino Airport as the pilot tried to make an emergency landing.
"We got the word late last night that there was a crash," Provost said. "Paul's close friends are just trying to help out the family and help out hundreds of people who are trying to send out their sympathy and condolences."
Mumford, a former motorcycle racer, won his first Sports Car Club of America Pro Racing event at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Sept. 7. It was only his second SCCA Speed GT Championship start. The nonprofit SCCA operates over 100 regional chapters and more than 2000 amateur and professional events each year.
"We've lost one of our brightest young stars; one whom we'd only just met," Steve Johnson, president and chief executive officer of SCCA, said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Paul's family and friends."
Provost, who organized and raced with Mumford, described his friend as an unassuming, charismatic guy.
"He was just addicted to speed," Provost said. "He'd go out of his way to help anybody."
Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board were on the scene Thursday investigating the crash.
Shortly after departing Corona en route to Oakland, the pilot radioed air traffic control to report an onboard fire and said he would attempt to land at Chino Airport, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Donn Walker said.
The plane went down in the Santa Ana River bottom, about 50 miles east of Los Angeles, and was completely destroyed. Witnesses said the plane spewed smoke and flames before it crashed. The crash briefly ignited a blaze that spread over about five acres of brush.
Mumford is survived by his parents, a sister and brother.
Mumford, 31, of Yorba Linda, was with Chris Premer, 31, of Costa Mesa, said fellow racer Brian Provost. Provost said the two men were good friends.
Riverside County officials declined to release the names of those aboard the Piper Cherokee that crashed Wednesday, three miles from Chino Airport as the pilot tried to make an emergency landing.
"We got the word late last night that there was a crash," Provost said. "Paul's close friends are just trying to help out the family and help out hundreds of people who are trying to send out their sympathy and condolences."
Mumford, a former motorcycle racer, won his first Sports Car Club of America Pro Racing event at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Sept. 7. It was only his second SCCA Speed GT Championship start. The nonprofit SCCA operates over 100 regional chapters and more than 2000 amateur and professional events each year.
"We've lost one of our brightest young stars; one whom we'd only just met," Steve Johnson, president and chief executive officer of SCCA, said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Paul's family and friends."
Provost, who organized and raced with Mumford, described his friend as an unassuming, charismatic guy.
"He was just addicted to speed," Provost said. "He'd go out of his way to help anybody."
Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board were on the scene Thursday investigating the crash.
Shortly after departing Corona en route to Oakland, the pilot radioed air traffic control to report an onboard fire and said he would attempt to land at Chino Airport, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Donn Walker said.
The plane went down in the Santa Ana River bottom, about 50 miles east of Los Angeles, and was completely destroyed. Witnesses said the plane spewed smoke and flames before it crashed. The crash briefly ignited a blaze that spread over about five acres of brush.
Mumford is survived by his parents, a sister and brother.
