Titusville-Cocoa Airport

Built in 1943, this airport was deeded by the government to Titusville and Cocoa after the war. Today it’s Space Coast Regional Airport, the closest commercial airport to Kennedy Space Center. On August 14, 1956, the Titusville Channel Cats car club asked the Titusville city council for permission to hold drag races on the second Sunday of each month, run by the Central Florida Timing Association. The council had no objection but wanted Cocoa to weigh in. The Cocoa Drag Racers had already asked to use the field, so Cocoa told the Channel Cats to coordinate with them.

The first race came on August 18, 1957, under NASCAR sanction, with plans to race on the first and third Sundays. The Brevard Timing Association ran the events. At the NASCAR races on Labor Day, September 2, 1957, Ronnie Kirkland won top eliminator over sixty entries at 123.04 mph. In July 1959 a new six-man airport board discussed strict rules, newspapers predicted the end of drag racing there, and racing did stop for 1959. It came back in 1960 with a January 31 charity race by the Throttle Masters Drag Club, with everything above expenses going to the March of Dimes. After a couple of races that year, the airport stopped allowing drag racing.