Casper, Wyoming Is The Best Pick For The National Air Races

Airplane racing in Casper, Wyoming?

It's 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.

In April of 2023, after receiving 38 inquiries from different locations, an official request for proposals from the Reno Air Racing Association was sent out nationwide to find a future home for the National Championship Air Races. Eleven cities attended one of two bidders’ conferences in 2023, expressing further interest in hosting the event. Of the 11, six cities submitted complete proposals.

Casper is one of three finalists.

Here is why Casper is the perfect location for The National Championship Air Races.

Folks who live out here might think it's too windy. But it's not that windy in the summer when the air races would be held.

Summer mornings usually bring calm and quiet weather to the area.

North of the Casper/Natrona County Airport is what is referred to as "the practice area." This is where pilots of smaller planes go to learn how to fly or sharpen their skills.

You can drive out there on almost any day to a park by a small lake named "Golden Eye." Lay back and watch pilots doing steep turns and other maneuvers overhead. Parking and permanent toilet facilities have already been built.

This area would be perfect for race fans.

The airport itself is more than big enough for all the air traffic.

It was originally built as a training facility for the Army Air Corps during WWII. Bomber squadrons and fighter squadrons trained there. That's where Chuck Yeager learned to fly.

This gives the airport a couple of big, fat, long runways.

Several older, now unused runways could be reopened.

Casper Airport has several HUGE hangers that are leftover from WWII and are in great condition. Plenty of room for racing planes and fans.

The military still uses the Casper airport for training, as do major airlines.

In the summer air fire fighting units stage there.

Scroll ahead to 6:06 in the video below to see news about Casper and the air 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 lives 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).