Baking under the Wyoming summer sun, the cars sitting on asphalt of the Powell Municipal Airport shimmer as drivers prepare for their mark. Standing between the drivers, the race coordinator drops her arms, launching both cars down the runway, with echoes of tires screaming and engines roaring reverberating across Polecat Bench. For an eighth of a mile, two drivers push as hard as they can before circling back on the taxiway and beginning the cycle again.

If you’ve been a spectator at any of the events hosted by Battle on the Bench, you know the feeling. Going on four years, the organization has hosted events out of Powell’s airport from the spring to the fall before retiring and regrouping for the winter. Sometimes it’s that kind of rain that feels explicitly like it was saved for public events that delays the races, other times it’s that lucky old sun scorching the coverless tarmac. But regardless of what nature can throw at these drivers and event organizers, that love of speed and community is what brings them out to race.

Battle on the Bench began simply enough as a small group of racers who used to meet at the South Big Horn County Airport in Greybull for events. After issues arose regarding logistics and the safety of the runway for drivers looking to race, the group of organizers took matters into their own hands and set their sights on Powell.

“After the Greybull races got shut down, all of us who do this kind of stuff didn’t really have an outlet to go out and do it anymore. So we got together, made some phone calls, got everything together and started racing in Powell instead,” said Battle on the Bench President Randy Walker, who has been involved since the start. “The whole setup at the Powell airport is a much better deal because the taxiway serves as a return road which crosses in front of the crowd who get to see the cars and the pit area up close. Logistically, it just makes things work really well.”

Beyond Walker, organizers include LeAnne and Tim Kindred, Taylor and Aaron Libby, Levi and Brantley Asay, Justin Cock and Karisa Kraut. Together, the team volunteers their time and expertise to assist in race operations, technical inspections, working admissions at the front and arranging sponsors and vendors.

On top of this, the group is also responsible for coordinating with the FAA to maintain safety, both during regular races and when they host the annual Wings n’ Wheels airshow and drag race event alongside Mike Martin, which predates the formation of Battle on the Bench.

“The first time we tried working with Mike, we had to resolve a couple of issues so that we didn’t just have cars just sitting up there for hours and having people getting unhappy because we had to work around the plane guys,” Walker said. “But we built a plan around it, figured out what time slots we were going to have for planes and cars, and since then we’ve just been able to get more details figured out and have gotten more organized about it.”

Community Racin’

The car count varies considerably from race to race, with some of the regular races drawing around 30 cars while other events have brought in as many as 100. Walker said he does his best to coordinate with other event organizers around the region, like 307 Outlaw Streets in Gillette and Untamed Asphalt in Acton, Montana, and spread awareness about the group's events through word of mouth.

“We have our main group of locals that show up every time that we really appreciate, but then we have quite a bit of people that come down from Montana. We’ve even had people from the Colorado and Utah areas which bring in a whole different group of people,” Walker said. “We get a certain crowd with our regular races and then when we do our shootout race, that's when some of the big dogs come in with the really, really fast cars.”

Although most of the races are done just for the love of the sport, there are still events like the King of the Strip Night Shootout event where real prize money is put on the line. Since the event tends to bring out especially fast cars and a different crowd, they have it broken into three classes with different award tiers: Full Size Tailgate for $1,000, Big Tire/Outlaw for $2,500 and Small Tire/Radial also for $2,500.

During this year’s King of the Strip held in August, Walker won the Full Size Tailgate in his blue 1971 Chevy C10 with a 522 big-block engine that he’s been working on since he was 17. In the Big Tire/Outlaw class, Mike Williams took the win in his 1937 Chevy Coupe and the Small Tire/Radial category was won by Robert Rodriguez in his 1968 Chevy Camaro.

Funding for the shootout prizes mainly comes from sponsors like the Billings-based Shepard Brothers and Scheveck & Salminen Law Firm and Powell-based GTS Well Services and its owner, Greg Spomer. GTS, along with Ryno’s Rentals, have been instrumental in helping organize the night races by providing the light plants needed to illuminate the event.

‘Good, clean American fun’

LeAnne Kindred, treasurer of Battle on the Bench and wife of group vice president Tim Kindred, has been volunteering her time since the move from Greybull. Originally performing office work for Ryan Brothers Trucking before retiring, she put her administrative skills to work as the primary coordinator for vendors, volunteers and the FAA. The work is rewarding.

“This one year, we had this group of high school boys in a pickup and they just drove in circles all day long and just wanted to go fast. It wasn’t like it was a souped-up, fancy vehicle, they just wanted to be able to go fast,” Kindred said. “There’s really not any other areas other than maybe county roads where people get that chance and it’s both much safer up at the airport and the police aren’t going to get mad at anyone.”

While events are relaxed, the organizers remain safety conscious. Vehicles that participate must meet basic requirements like having secure battery tie-downs, seat belts and decent tires and drivers need to show basic competency and possess a driver’s license. Barring those criteria, the organizers pride themselves on providing an accessible venue for amateur racers who may not have the opportunity to race in a more official setting.

“There’s really nothing else like this around. Sure, there’s official races at the Yellowstone Drag Strip in Montana, but that’s not for the average Joe who doesn’t have deep pockets,” Kindred said. “I also appreciate the younger generation having the ability to take ownership in a community event and put the work into pulling it off.”

This sentiment was shared by Walker, who expressed a desire to expand access to youth who want to get out and be a part of the culture. He talked about hypothetically setting up a program where a sponsor would provide two identical vehicles where kids could come in, make passes and get comfortable in a safe vehicle and race against each other.

“I want to see more of the young kids out there because this sport is going to survive by those guys getting interested, coming in and doing the same stuff that we did, however many years ago,” Walker said. “The biggest thing is that we just want the young people involved. I don’t care if you take your mom’s minivan, come out and run it so long as it gets through tech inspection.”

Overall, the course seems steady for the crew at Battle on the Bench as the group prepares for the 2027 season. Kindred and Walker both take pride in providing a nearby outlet for people who want to come out and race without having to drive hours to do so and working on growing the events while maintaining the welcoming atmosphere.

“I hope more people come out and watch because it’s a fun family event where we always have food trucks and entertainment,” Kindred said. “It’s just good, clean American fun.”