After 60 years in Reno, NV, the National Championship Air Races (NCAR) are making a new home in neighboring Roswell, NM. What are air races, you ask? Just what the name says … airplanes racing each other in the sky. Think NASCAR a couple hundred feet above the ground!

Besides just having a cool event to attend nearby, why should we care? Roswell will be the permanent home of NCAR.  Over the last 60 years, the trend has been to see around 50,000 visitors to the site of the races daily over a five-day period. Events take place daily until 5:00. After that time, those visitors will be looking for places to eat, shop, play, visit, and generally be entertained. That means opportunity for a community like ours that is just down street, relatively speaking, from Roswell’s air center.

Race dates for 2025 are September 10-14. That’s when the actual events take place. Many volunteers and race teams will be coming in days before that to prepare. We can count on this event taking place each year around that same time. Let’s show our visitors some hospitality and make Artesia a place they want to come back to year after year!

Artesia Chamber of Commerce will be hosting meetings to share information about the event and discuss ways we can plan for an influx of visitors. If you are interested in knowing more, please call us at (575) 746-2744.