Wirt Field (Newton)

Closed

April 29, 1962, race drew over 4,000 spectators and had to turn away seventy cars

Raced: 1961-63
State: Kansas
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 27, 1961
Location: Wirt Field, three miles east of Newton on First Street
People: Railrodders Hot Rod Club, race organizer (1961-63)
Newton Jaycees, co-sponsor (1962)
Sanction: AHRA
Elevation: 1,527 ft (465 m)
Coordinates: 38.05593, -97.27796

Three thousand people watched the first drag races at Wirt Field, Newton’s municipal airport three miles east of town on First Street, on August 27, 1961. The Railrodders Hot Rod Club ran them, almost 200 cars entered, and top speed was 152.80 mph. Electronic timing went in for the April 29, 1962, race, when over 4,000 spectators watched more than 200 cars and seventy more had to be turned away. Races ran on the fourth Sunday of each month in 1962. In June a group of ministers complained to the city commission about Sunday racing. The Newton Jaycees co-sponsored the October 28, 1962, race with the Railrodders under AHRA sanction, with cash for each eliminator winner. In 1963 some plane owners complained that racing on the runway was a hazard, but the season opened anyway with a race on April 28.

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