BRIEF

The National Championship Air Races are produced every September by the Reno Air Racing Association, a 501(c)(3). The event features seven racing classes, a large display of static aircraft with military and civil flight demonstrations.

The Reno Air Racing Association Board of Directors, a small full-time staff and hundreds of volunteers work together to keep this event thriving. Staff members handle the thousands of details needed year after year, planning for the next event before the current one is even completed. More than 1,200 volunteers serve in capacities ranging from course safety and security, to event sequencing and air traffic control, to race timing and scoring.

MISSION

Our mission is to produce a first-class air racing and air show event that celebrates and perpetuates the world’s fastest motorsport. Fueled by decades of success, we’re committed to delivering a safe, entertaining and exhilarating experience for fans while also honoring our military, inspiring our youth and strengthening our community, economy and culture.

HISTORY

The National Championship Air Races is the last event of its kind, carrying on the tradition of the Cleveland Air Races of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. In 1964, Bill Stead organized an air race near Reno, Nevada, and the Reno National Championship Air Races were born. The event that Bill Stead started in the Nevada desert more than 60 years ago is still going strong, but this year it begins a new chapter in a new location.

Since their debut in 1964, there have only been three years when the event did not take place; once in September of 2001 when all aircraft in the United States were grounded following the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington D.C. The second was in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. And the third was last year, in 2024, as the event moved to its new home in Roswell, New Mexico.

An annual September tradition, the National Championship Air Races have become an institution for aviation enthusiasts from around the world. For one week, the event becomes home for hundreds of aircraft, their pilots and crews. Over the past ten years, the event attracted more than 1 million spectators and generated more than $750 million for the Reno region’s economy.