Organizers want to make Pueblo championship international air racing destination
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) - Do you remember the old Red Bull Air Races? Well, now its spiritual successor, Air Race X, is looking to make Pueblo, Colorado, the yearly home for its championship race finals.
Monday night, the race group's North American Representative made a presentation to the Pueblo City Council during the work session. You can see a copy of the presentation here.
The group already hosts races in Europe and Japan and is looking to expand to North America, filling the shoes of the former Red Bull Air Races.
One of the big reasons the International Air Race wants to come to Pueblo is the Pueblo Airport; however, that isn't the only reason.
Planes racing at 250 MPH and experiencing gravitational forces up to 12g.
"Pueblo is keen on our list to be the first one in North America, and we're hoping it to be a race every single year," said Ted Morris. "The air race championship finals, hopefully, will be held here at Pueblo every single year."
Morris is the North American representative for Air Race X, outlines what makes Pueblo their top choice.
"First off, we need an expansive airport," Morris says the races take up a lot of airspace and draw a large crowd, and the Pueblo Airport has the capacity on the ground and in the sky. Another added benefit is the closeness of I-25.
"Third attribute of that is we like to be close to general aviation. You have a lot of technical schools around here for aviation flight schools, which are very, very beneficial to us," said Morris.
However, the presentation to the Pueblo City Council isn't just to get permission to hold the races; it's also to request monetary support. If accepted, the race would cost $1.2 million, plus help from other city services like the police department, helping with crowd control.
On the other hand, Air Race X projects $4 million - $6 millon in economic impact for just one year.
Councilors expressed mixed views at the city council, with some not believing the company's stated benefits.
"You sound like a, a warranty salesman. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And the fact that there's zero downside for the city, everything's going to be great. We're going to make a ton of money. I don't believe that," says Mark Aliff, City Council President.
Others were excited about the possible economic impact.
"I'm excited about this, and I hope the rest of the council on the other side of this as well," says Joe Latino, City Councilor.
No final decision was made by the city council the night of the presentation. If it were to get approved, a funding mechanism would need to be approved twice by the city council.
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