In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip

History

In 1952, the car club "Choppers of Pomona" and Sergeant Bud Coons advocated for a safe place for local drag racers. Coons, Police Chief Ralph Parker, and the city government of Pomona asked to lease the parking lot of the LA County Fairgrounds. Coons and Parker convinced the county by citing statistics that deaths among kids declined when given a supervised place to race. The county agreed provided the hot rodders supplied their own insurance, covered by gate receipts.

The parking lot was gravel; the coalition raised funds and paved it. The first NHRA event, the Southern California Championships, was held there on an April weekend in 1953. Saturday attendance was 2,000 to 3,000; Sunday attendance was 15,000. The best elapsed time was 10.93 seconds.

In 1961, NHRA held its first Winternationals at Pomona, its second national event, nicknamed the "Big-Go West". The event has been sponsored by Chief Auto Parts, AutoZone, CSK Automotive, and currently O'Reilly Auto Parts. In 2008, Top Fuel and Funny Car races were reduced to 1000 feet. From 2021, the race has been held in late March or early April; the 2021 race was postponed to July-August to allow spectators.

NHRA Finals

The NHRA Finals, the season-closing event, moved to the Pomona facility in 1984 from the now-defunct Orange County International Raceway. Initially, the event was sponsored by Winston, the cigarette brand tied to NHRA's main title sponsor at the time, RJ Reynolds. From 2010 through 2019, and again from 2021 to 2022, the Automobile Club of Southern California, affiliated with AAA, served as sponsor. The 2020 edition was held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, sponsored by Stellantis and Royal Dutch Shell, because Clark County, Nevada, permitted spectators while California still banned mass gatherings due to the global pandemic.

Starting in 2023, In-N-Out Burger became the naming rights sponsor for both the circuit and the NHRA Finals. In November 2025, adverse weather forced NHRA to cancel the race; only lower-level Sportsman classes were held, the two Top Alcohol classes were abandoned after the first round, and no professional categories took place.