N.M.S.U. Drag Strip (Las Cruces)
ClosedClosed No longer racing, but some of the track is still there.
- Bob Perry's Corvette wheelstander ran exhibitions in June 1973
- Raced
- late 1960s, 1972-75
- State
- New Mexico
- What's left
- You can still spot it in aerial photos, or broken pieces of the track surface remain.
- Raced on
- An airport runway
- First race
- late 1960s (first documented January 21, 1973)
- Surface
- Runway
- Location
- Old University Airport, south of the Pan American Center on the NMSU campus
- People
- Aggie ET Club, race operator (1970s)
- Sanction
- NHRA
- Elevation
- 3,968 ft (1,209 m)
- Coordinates
- 32.27613, -106.74224
Racing on this airfield strip came in two stretches, the late 1960s and 1972-75. After the old University Airport closed around 1970-71, it was used for occasional races. It sat south of the Pan American Center, next to its parking lot on New Mexico State University land, and the Aggie ET Club ran the races in the 1970s. The first race of that period, on January 21, 1973, drew several hundred spectators and 45 racers. More than 900 people watched 43 cars in four classes on February 18, with over $500 in prizes. On March 25, more than 1,100 watched 50 racers, and the track had added a new PA system and electric timing for one lane, powered by small generators. Bob Perry’s Corvette wheelstander ran exhibitions in June 1973. In 1974 races were planned for the last Sunday of each month under NHRA sanction. Andrew “JR” Gomolak said races were first held at the NMSU airstrip in the late 1960s. No documents confirm it, but he worked those races as a tech inspector and announcer.
