Williams Airport (Raymond)

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Also known as John Bell Williams Airport

Site of the first drag races in Mississippi
Sponsored by police and the state highway patrol

Raced: 1955
State: Mississippi
What's left: A good length of the old track surface is still there, in poor to good condition.
Raced on: An airport runway
Location: Williams Airport, eighteen miles west of Jackson
People: Jackson Timing Association, ran races (1955)
Jackson Police Department, sponsor (1955)
Mississippi State Highway Safety Patrol, sponsor (1955)
Sanction: NHRA
Elevation: 237 ft (72 m)
Coordinates: 32.30494, -90.40923

Mississippi’s first drag races were held at Williams Airport (also John Bell Williams Airport), eighteen miles west of Jackson. The date of the first race isn’t known. The second, on July 10, 1955, was NHRA-sanctioned and drew 27 cars and 300 spectators, and Gerald Franklin’s Ford Thunderbird was fastest at 16.7 and 108 mph. On July 31, almost 500 people watched 51 cars and three motorcycles in the third race, and Ken Jones had the best time on a Norton at 17.4. Fifty cars ran on August 28. Races were held twice a month in 1955, run by the Jackson Timing Association and sponsored by the Jackson Police Department and the Mississippi State Highway Safety Patrol.

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