Colorado City Dragway

Pueblo Motorsports, Inc. (PMI) was a nonprofit grass-roots group formed to build interest in drag racing in Southern Colorado and raise money for a strip in Pueblo. To build that interest it got permission to race at Greenhorn Valley Airport in Colorado City, 25 miles south of Pueblo. State Representative Bob ‘Leon’ Kirscht backed the effort and said the first races would give the group practice at running events. Gail Naumann built the private airstrip in 1970 next to his ranch, 3,900 feet long and 150 feet wide, and in 1972 asked the FAA to make it a public airport with a paved runway 50 feet wide and 4,200 feet long. It was four miles northeast of Crow Junction on the east side of I-25.

The first race, NHRA sanctioned and run with equipment from the old Castle Rock strip, was held June 16, 1974 before about 4,000 people. Speeds were kept down on the new track. Tommy Kaiser won top eliminator over a five-car top fuel field at 6.99 and 199 mph, and Judy Lilly’s super stocker, funny cars and fuel altereds made exhibition runs. A second race on July 14 featured pro comp dragsters with a $500 top prize, and a modified eliminator race followed in August. The big September top fuel race was rained out, and with the weather so unpredictable a pro stock race set for September 22 and a grudge race for October 6 were dropped. Ground was broken for the Pueblo strip on January 17, 1975 and it opened that September, so no races ran at Colorado City in 1975. The 1974 races had done their job of introducing drag racing to Southern Colorado and giving the group experience.