Gallup Municipal Airport
ClosedClosed No longer racing, but some of the track is still there.
- Raced
- 1956
- State
- New Mexico
- What's left
- A good length of the old track surface is still there, in poor to good condition.
- Raced on
- An airport runway
- First race
- August 26, 1956
- Surface
- Gravel and dirt, oiled
- Location
- Old airport runway three miles west of Gallup
- People
- Prospectors car club, organizer (1956)
- Elevation
- 6,465 ft (1,971 m)
- Coordinates
- 35.51126, -108.78951
The Prospectors car club held the first race on the old gravel airport runway three miles west of Gallup on August 26, 1956, with free admission. Hank Hengel was quickest in his Jaguar at 18.0 seconds and 73.3 MPH. The formal opening race came on September 30, 1956, after club members had marked off a pit area and oiled the dirt runway.
Background
Gallup Municipal Airport today sits on Historic Route 66, three miles southwest of the city center. Gallup Flying Service runs the FBO, and an air ambulance service operates from the field.