Pueblo among three finalists seeking to become new home of National Championship Air Races
The race is on for three U.S. cities seeking to become the new home of the National Championship Air Races.
Pueblo was announced as one of three finalist cities Thursday in a news release from the Reno Air Racing Association. The other two cities hoping to take over the air races as they depart from their longtime home in Reno, Nevada, are Casper, Wyoming, and Roswell, New Mexico.
“We’re proud of what our community has to offer with Pueblo Memorial Airport and all of our incredible amenities in the city,” Pueblo Mayor Heather Graham said in a written statement accompanying the release.
“We’re honored to be considered for large scale events like this and know we have many other community events to be proud of like the Colorado State Fair, the Chile and Frijoles Festival and the National Street Rod Association which call Pueblo home and have done so for decades.”
Pueblo submitted its proposal to be the new host city of the air races last August and a group of local leaders flew to Nevada in September to watch the races up close.
Pueblo was then put on a shortlist of six finalist cities in October. That list was then halved, with the cities of Buckeye, Arizona, Thermal, California, and Wendover, Utah, no longer being considered.
“We’ve been overwhelmed by the amazing, positive feedback we’ve received from the six bidding communities as a whole, as we search for the future home for the National Championship Air Races,” RARA CEO Fred Telling said in the release.
“There were many, many elements to consider, and we’d like to extend our sincere thanks to all the entrants who put in the time and effort to submit their carefully thought-out proposals. Through a rigorous vetting process, we feel confident that one of these three locations will provide the right mix of elements our event needs to continue to race well into the future.”
The high-flying races are seeking a new home after organizers announced last March that the 2023 races would be the last ones held in Reno, where the races have been an annual fixture since 1967.
RARA stated that the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority was ending its 59-year participation in the event because of “the region’s significant growth amongst other concerns,” the association’s board of directors wrote in a letter.
Other “contributing factors” to ending the races in Reno were concerns over “challenging economic conditions, rapid area development, public safety and the impact on the Reno-Stead Airport and its surrounding areas,” the RTAA said in a news release.
After the initial six finalist cities were selected, a series of site visits were conducted by RARA board members, class pilot representatives and other committee participants “to assess the viability of hosting the pinnacle air racing event at their facilities,” according to Thursday’s release.
Factors taken into account when evaluating each city's viability to host the races included the ability of venues to host large crowds, handle hundreds of aircraft and support the large racecourse needed for the event.
“With these and many other factors in mind – Casper, Pueblo and Roswell were chosen as the top three finalists,” the release stated.
A final decision on the future home of the National Championship Air Races is expected in April.
RARA will be hosting an air show and 60th-anniversary celebration in Reno in October, with the air races scheduled to return in 2025 at the event's new location.
Chieftain editor Zach Hillstrom can be reached at zhillstrom@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @ZachHillstrom. Support local news, subscribe to the Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Why Pueblo may be the new home of the National Championship Air Races
