Ellensburg Airport Drag Strip

The first drag races, in 1956, ran on a narrow taxiway alongside the southeast-northwest runway at Bowers Field, also known as Kittitas County Airport. The runway itself may have been used later, but not in the early years. The Windy Pipers car club ran the races with help from the Ellensburg Jaycees, holding eight in July and August 1956, and that first year 1,000 drivers and 350 cars took part. In 1957 races ran every other Sunday, drawing 50 to 75 racers and about 200 spectators. Bob Cottrell of Yakima ran the year’s fastest time, 13.66 seconds, on his Harley-Davidson, and two weeks later, on June 23, 1957, Lew Conn of Yakima took top eliminator at 13.70. A former finish-line judge remembered there was no timing equipment at all, only a start light, and that he judged finishes holding a white piece of plywood nailed to a 2x4. The races were NHRA sanctioned by 1962.