McConnell Air Force Base (Wichita)
ClosedClosed No longer racing, but some of the track is still there.
- Raced
- 1958
- State
- Kansas
- What's left
- A good length of the old track surface is still there, in poor to good condition.
- Raced on
- A military airfield
- Location
- Runway at McConnell Air Force Base
- People
- Southern Kansas Timing Association, race organizer (1958)
- Elevation
- 1,348 ft (411 m)
- Coordinates
- 37.62367, -97.26565
The first race on a base runway was set for July 27, with timing equipment borrowed from Great Bend, but it was rained out. The Southern Kansas Timing Association of Wichita rescheduled for August 24, 1958, expecting 100 racers and 30,000 spectators, with gate money going to the enlisted men’s welfare fund. No report of that race has turned up.
Background
McConnell is an active Air Force base four miles southeast of downtown Wichita, named for Fred and Thomas McConnell, two Wichita brothers who flew in World War II. Today it hosts the 22nd and 931st Air Refueling Wings and the Kansas Air National Guard's 184th Wing.
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