New Mexico City is New Home for National Championship Air Races

After being held in Nevada for years, the annual National Championship Air Races will now called New Mexico home. Since 1965, the Reno Stead Airport was the site of the Air Races every year. For 2025, 3 different cities were up for consideration between Casper, Roswell & Pueblo. But in the end, the Roswell Air Center will be the new home for the one of the biggest air races held in the United States.

Why is Roswell going to be the new home for the National Championship Air Races?

Well for one reason, Roswell is a big city for New Mexico; it's the 5th largest populated city with a total population of at least 48,422 people. The Roswell Air Center is also historic for being the site of the 1947 UFO crash so that's another reason why this place was chosen.

According to Fred Telling, CEO and chairman of the board for the Reno Air Racing Association, "We’re thrilled to bring our honored tradition of racing to Roswell and are confident that they have both the enthusiasm and resources to expand the future of our races for many generations to come. While Roswell was chosen, we are truly grateful for the overwhelming support, dedication and enthusiasm shown by all the communities who submitted their bids to host our event. It was incredibly difficult to select a final location as each venue had their own unique strengths and challenges. At the end of the day, we are thankful and deeply appreciative of the teams in Pueblo and Casper who invested their time and efforts in the process".

Mike Espiritu, president and CEO for the Roswell-Chaves County Economic Development Corporation said, "To know that Roswell will be the future home of the National Championship Air Races is a privilege and honor. The event landing in Roswell is a testament to the collaboration and support of the region who have worked for the past year to make this dream a reality. We are confident that we can help the event grow and expand for many years to come,".

There was another New Mexico city that hosted air races

Las Cruces actually held their first air race in October 2023; maybe we'll see more with Roswell being the home for the National Championship Air Races.

While it's a shame that Reno will no longer be the home for such an iconic race, I AM happy that somewhere else is getting a chance to host this event.

Get our free mobile app