Casper Among Final 3 Choices To Replace Reno Air Races

Airplane racing in Casper Wyoming?

It's actually been done before.

It's a great idea. The landscape is perfect for it.

Casper is on the shortlist to be the new home of the National Championship Air Races, formally known as the Reno Air Races. But Reno Nevada no longer wants the race due to their increasing population and the noise of the race, among other issues.

Casper is one of three possible new locations for the race.

Air racing is just like NASCAR but with planes.

That could bring in an estimated $100 million in revenue from fans alone.

If this happens it would not be the first time there were air races in Casper/Natrona County.

Wyoming's most famous aviator Jim Good brought aviation to the public as organizer of the 1989 Flying Cowboy Air Show & Air Races in Casper.

Good's airplane from the old Reno Air Race hanger at the Casper airport. It's one of the most famous planes from the Reno Air Races. Good was based out of Casper Wyoming, back in those days.

James C. “Jim” Good, who represented Wyoming at the prestigious National Championship Air Races in Reno for decades, was a 2016 inductee into the Wyoming Aviation Hall of Fame.

Good died in Casper on April 24 at the age of 83. The current owner of his famous plane still flies the famous craft out of the Casper Airport.

Good began racing in the National Championship Air Races in the early 1980s, piloting a North American T-6, a World War II-era advanced trainer he christened “Wyoming Wildcatter.”

He used his understanding of flight and airframes to make numerous modifications to the T-6 to increase speed and efficiency.

He also developed race standards that were adopted to ensure a safer racing environment, and he advised and assisted other racers with specialized aircraft modifications and repairs.

After earning his airline transport pilot license in 1972, Good became a full-time pipeline patrol pilot for Amoco Oil Corp. in Casper, logging more than 34,000 hours flying various types of aircraft at low levels and often under extreme conditions. He retired in 1995.(WYDOT).