National Championship Air Races officials visit Pueblo as city vies to be races' new home

Reno Air Racing Association committee members visited Pueblo Monday as part of a site visit to help assess Pueblo's bid to become the new host city of the National Championship Air Races in 2025.

The committee members met with some of Pueblo’s leaders during the all-day site visit. Pueblo last month was one of six cities announced as a finalist to host the National Championship Air Races after next year's event and members want to learn more about each city before they make a final decision.

The Pueblo stop was the first site visit for members of the committee, which plans to visit the other five cities over the next few months, Tony Logoteta, board and committee member and COO of the Reno Air Racing Association, told the Chieftain.

The association in its announcement of the finalists said some requirements to host the event are “open land for the racecourses, suitable runways, ramp and hangar space, administrative and security facilities, as well as proximity to hotels, commercial airports and restaurants.”

Logoteta, who took part in Monday’s site visit, said the committee was “very impressed” with Pueblo’s proposal and that it addressed several of the committee's requirements.

“They did a really good job with the proposal,” Logoteta said. “It was very professionally done and that was one of the reasons that Pueblo was pushed up to be one of the top contenders to be the next (host).”

The Reno Air Racing Association is seeking a new venue for the air races after it announced in March that this year’s iteration would be the last held in Reno, where it’s been a staple since 1967.

The Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority ended its participation in the event because of its concerns over “challenging economic conditions, rapid area development, public safety and the impact on the Reno-Stead Airport and its surrounding areas.”

The other cities in the running are Casper, Wyoming; Buckeye, Arizona; Roswell, New Mexico; Thermal, California; and Wendover, Utah.

“What impressed me is that they have people coming from all over the country who volunteer for these races and they have clientele that will follow them anywhere,” Pueblo Mayor Nick Gradisar told the Chieftain. “There’s no doubt in my mind that if Pueblo ends up being the host city, those people who attended the races in Reno will come to Pueblo. It’s an economic driver.”

Gradisar and other Pueblo leaders in September traveled to Nevada to observe this year’s air races, which over the past 10 years attracted more than 1 million visitors and generated more than $750 million for Reno’s economy, according to the association.

Gradisar after the trip said he thought bringing the event to Pueblo would be “worth pursuing.” The city on Aug. 10 submitted its bid to do so.

Gradisar said he suspects the air races could boost Pueblo’s economic activity, improve its airport infrastructure and help generate tourism for the area. The air races are generally held over multiple days each September and provide a “huge economic, cultural and marketing impact” to a community, Logoteta said.

In a report from 2019, the association found the event contributed more than $100 million to the region.

The event, however, has sparked some concerns from Reno residents over safety, which became louder this year when two pilots died following a mid-air collision.

Fred Telling, CEO and chairman of the board for the Reno Air Racing Association, after the crash told representatives from each of the six cities to go home and ponder whether they wanted to reconsider hosting the event, but none backed out, the Reno Gazette Journal reported.

Gradisar said that crash didn’t factor in the city’s final decision on whether to submit a bid or not but the city weighed it during its decision-making process. He noted that the races are inherently dangerous for pilots, much like for drivers who participate in stock car racing, but “exciting.”

There have been more than 30 fatalities at the air races since 1972, most of which involved pilots. There were 10 spectators who died in 2011 when an aircraft collided into a seating area.

Telling after this year’s crash said that mitigating risks and safety are the association’s “foremost priority.”

“Everything we do is not without risk, but here we felt like the benefit to the community is sort of worth it and everybody will make a decision about whether to go or not,” Gradisar said. “We think it can be a safe event, especially for spectators, and we’ll do everything in our power to make sure it's as safe as possible.”

Logoteta said that the association would implement any suggestions that the National Transportation Safety Board or Federal Aviation Administration provide for the event and that it works with each agency to “mitigate risk in the future.” He noted that families who lost loved ones at the races still attend them.

“It is a part of our history and we are heartbroken every time we lose somebody, but it doesn’t define us,” Logoteta said. “What defines us is the way that we rallied around and made the adjustments that the NTSB and FAA requested we make. We’ve been able to pull through that with so much support.”

An announcement naming the new host city is expected to come in early 2024. Logoteta said he expects the committee will whittle the short list to two or three cities after it completes site visits but isn’t certain. He said the committee is focused on giving each city a “fair evaluation.”

The Reno Air Racing Association will host one final air show in Reno later next year before moving the air races to a new location in 2025.

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Chieftain reporter Josue Perez can be reached at JHPerez@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @josuepwrites. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: National Championship Air Races contingent visits Pueblo