In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip

Not to be confused with Auto Club Speedway in nearby Fontana, California.

The Pomona Raceway (currently named the In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, previously named the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona),^[2] is a racing facility located in Pomona, California that features a quarter-mile dragstrip. Since its opening in 1961, the dragstrip has hosted the NHRA's Winternationals event – the traditional season opener – and since 2021, the season's last race, the NHRA Finals. These two events have contributed to its becoming perhaps one of the most famous dragstrips in North America. The facility has a seating capacity of 40,000 spectators, and it is one of the few dragstrips in the USA that is operated directly by the NHRA. This dragstrip has also gone by the nickname of The Fairplex, in reference to its location at the Fairplex, formerly called the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds.

In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip

"Pomona Raceway"
Auto Club Raceway, 2008
Location	2780 Fairplex Drive, Pomona, California
Time zone	UMT -0800
Coordinates	34°05′42.32″N 117°46′11.15″W
Capacity	40,000
Operator	NHRA
Opened	1951 [1]
Former names	Pomona Raceway The Fairplex Ascot at Pomona Los Angeles Dragstrip Auto Club Raceway at Pomona
Major events	NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals
Website	http://www.autoclubracewaypomona.com
Drag Strip
Surface	Concrete
Length	0.25 miles (0.402 km)

History

Drag Racing

In 1952, a car club known as the "Choppers of Pomona" aided by a young police officer, Sergeant Bud Coons, advocated that a safe place should be provided for local area drag racers. Coons, along with fellow hot rod enthusiast, Pomona Police Chief Ralph Parker, and the city government of Pomona asked to lease the parking lot of the LA County Fairgrounds. Coons and Parker were instrumental in convincing the county to allow the use of the fairgrounds for the race by citing statistics that indicated deaths among kids declined sharply when given a supervised place to race. The county finally agreed, as long as the hot rodders would provide their own insurance, which they were able to do with gate receipts.^[3]

At the time the county made the agreement, the parking lot was nothing but a gravel lot. The coalition of hot rodders, police and community leaders raised funds through donations and paved the lot. This was the birth of the dragstrip in Pomona.

Though it was not considered a national event by today's standards, the very first NHRA event, the Southern California Championships, was held at this dragstrip on an April weekend in 1953. On Saturday, attendance was at two or three thousand and attendance was reported to be at 15,000 on Sunday. Compared to the 3.9 second numbers (at 333 yd 1 ft (304.80 m) the pros are putting on the board presently, the best ET of that day was a respectable 10.93.^[4]

In 1961, NHRA held its first ever Winternationals at the Pomona Raceway. It became NHRA's second national event. The first NHRA national event was the U.S. Nationals, which was nicknamed the "Big-Go". Thus, the Winternationals got nicknamed the "Big-Go West". It has remained at this location ever since. For many years, this event was sponsored by Chief Auto Parts and later its successor AutoZone, but later was sponsored by CSK Automotive, and now its current successor, O'Reilly Auto Parts.

2008 saw Top fuel & funny car races be reduced to the present 1000 feet.

The season closer, the NHRA Finals, was brought to the facility in 1984 from the now defunct Orange County International Raceway. When the event was first brought to Pomona, the event was sponsored by Winston (after NHRA's main title sponsor at the time, RJ Reynolds' "Winston" cigarette brand). From 2010 to 2019, and again from 2021 to 2022, the event was sponsored by the Automobile Club of Southern California, which is affiliated with AAA. The 2020 event was sponsored by Stellantis and Royal Dutch Shell when it was held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway because Clark County, Nevada allowed spectators when California still banned mass gatherings because of the global pandemic. Beginning in 2023, In-N-Out Burger will become naming rights sponsor for both the circuit and the NHRA Finals.^[5]

Other Racing

From 1934 to 1937 a 1⁄2 mile dirt oval was located at the facility.^[6] The dirt oval was once again opened in the 1950s but closed in 1959. Pomona was also home to a 1.7 mile paved road course which operated in 1998 and 1999. From 1956 to 1961, a 2-mile temporary road course was located in the parking lot.^[7]

Winners

NHRA Winternationals

Year	Top Fuel	Funny Car	Pro Stock
1961	Jack Chrisman
1962	Jim Nelson
1963	Don Garlits
1964	Jack Williams
1965	Don Prudhomme
1966	Mike Snively
1967	Connie Kalitta
1968	James Warren
1969	John Mulligan
1970	Larry Dixon	Larry Reyes
1971	Don Garlits	Butch Maas
1972	Carl Olson	Ed McCulloch
1973	Don Garlits	Don Schumacher
1974	Gary Beck	Dale Emery
1975	Don Garlits	Don Prudhomme
1976	Frank Bradley	Don Prudhomme
1977	Jerry Ruth	Don Prudhomme
1978	Kelly Brown	Don Prudhomme
1979	Bob Noice	Tom Hoover
1980	Shirley Muldowney	Dale Pulde
1981	Jeb Allen	Al Segrini
1982	Dick LaHaie	Al Segrini	Frank Iaconio
1983	Shirley Muldowney	Frank Hawley	Frank Iaconio
1984	Gary Ormsby	Al Segrini	Lee Shepherd
1985	Joe Amato	Al Segrini	Bob Glidden
1986	Darrell Gwynn	Tim Grose	Frank Iaconio
1987	Don Garlits	Kenny Bernstein	Warren Johnson
1988	Dick LaHaie	Dale Pulde	Butch Leal
1989	Gary Ormsby	Bruce Larson	Bob Glidden
1990	Lori Johns	K.C. Spurlock	Jerry Eckman
1991	Frank Bradley	John Force	Darrell Alderman
1992	Kenny Bernstein	Jim Epler	Jerry Eckman
1993	Joe Amato	John Force	Warren Johnson
1994	Shelly Anderson	K.C. Spurlock	Warren Johnson
1995	Eddie Hill	Cruz Pedregon	Darrell Alderman
1996	Blaine Johnson	Al Hofmann	Jim Yates
1997	Gary Scelzi	John Force	Warren Johnson
1998	Larry Dixon	Ronn Capps	Jim Yates
1999	Mike Dunn	Tony Pedregon	Jeg Coughlin
2000	Gary Scelzi	Jerry Toliver	Jeg Coughlin Jr.
2001	Darrell Russell	Bruce Sarver	Kurt Johnson
2002	Larry Dixon	John Force	George Marnell
2003	Larry Dixon	Tony Pedregon	Warren Johnson
2004	Tony Schumacher	Jerry Toliver	Greg Anderson
2005	Scott Kalitta	Tommy Johnson Jr.	Dave Connolly
2006	Melanie Troxel	Robert Hight	Greg Anderson
2007	J.R. Todd	Gary Scelzi	Greg Anderson
2008	Tony Schumacher	Robert Hight	Greg Anderson
2009	Doug Kalitta	Ron Capps	Jason Line
2010	Larry Dixon	John Force	Mike Edwards
2011	Morgan Lucas	Robert Hight	Jason Line
2012	Spencer Massey	John Force	Greg Anderson
2013	Shawn Langdon	Courtney Force	Vincent Nobile
2014	Khalid alBalooshi	John Force	Jason Line
2015	Shawn Langdon	Matt Hagan	Jason Line
2016	Steve Torrence	Ron Capps	Greg Anderson
2017	Leah Pritchett	Matt Hagan	Jason Line
2018	Doug Kalitta	Matt Hagan	Bo Butner
2019	Doug Kalitta	Robert Hight	Bo Butner
2020	Doug Kalitta	Jack Beckman	Jeg Coughlin Jr.
2021	Leah Pruett	Ron Capps	Aaron Stanfield
2022	Justin Ashley	Robert Hight	Erica Enders
2023	Justin Ashley	Matt Hagan	Dallas Glenn
2024	Abandoned after semifinals

Note: In 2021 The race was postponed due to COVID-19 until July 30 - August 1, 2021.

NHRA Finals

Year	Venue	Top Fuel	Funny Car	Pro Stock
1965	Tulsa	Maynard Rupp
1966	Tulsa	Pete Robinson
1967	Tulsa	Connie Kalitta	Don Nicholson
1968	Tulsa	Don Prudhomme	Ed Schartman
1969	Lewisville	L. Goldstein	Dick Harrell
1970	Lewisville	Ron Martin	Gene Snow
1971	Amarillo	Gerry Glenn	P. Castronovo
1972	Amarillo	Jim Walther	L. Fullerton
1973	Amarillo	Jerry Ruth	Frank Hall
1974	Ontario	Don Garlits	Dave Condit
1975	Ontario	Don Garlits	Don Prudhomme
1976	Ontario	Shirley Muldowney	Don Prudhomme
1977	Ontario	Dennis Baca	Gordie Bonin
1978	Ontario	Rob Bruins	Raymond Beadle
1979	Ontario	Don Garlits	Gordie Bonin
1980	Ontario	Shirley Muldowney	Ron Colson
1981	East Irvine	Gary Beck	Jim Dunn
1982	East Irvine	Jim Barnard	Trip Shumake
1983	East Irvine	Shirley Muldowney	John Lombardo
1984	Pomona	Don Garlits	Sherm Gunn	Bob Glidden
1985	Pomona	Gary Beck	Kenny Bernstein	Joe Lepone
1986	Pomona	Darrell Gwynn	Kenny Bernstein	Bob Glidden
1987	Pomona	Darrell Gwynn	Billy Meyer	Bob Glidden
1988	Pomona	Darrell Gwynn	John Force	Warren Johnson
1989	Pomona	Gary Ormsby	Bruce Larson	Bob Glidden
1990	Pomona	Joe Amato	Ed McCulloch	Bob Glidden
1991	Pomona	Pat Austin	Al Hofmann	Darrell Alderman
1992	Pomona	Cory McClenathan	Chuck Etchells	Warren Johnson
1993	Pomona	Rance McDaniel	Jim Epler	Warren Johnson
1994	Pomona	Kenny Bernstein	John Force	Darrell Alderman
1995	Pomona	Blaine Johnson	Al Hofmann	Warren Johnson
1996	Pomona	Joe Amato	John Force	Mike Edwards
1997	Pomona	Joe Amato	Tony Pedregon	Kurt Johnson
1998	Pomona	Kenny Bernstein	Chuck Etchells	Richie Stevens
1999	Pomona	Mike Dunn	Jerry Toliver	Jeg Coughlin Jr
2000	Pomona	Gary Scelzi	John Force	Kurt Johnson
2001	Pomona	Kenny Bernstein	Del Worsham	Bruce Allen
2002	Pomona	Cory McClenathan	John Force	Kurt Johnson
2003	Pomona	Kenny Bernstein	Del Worsham	Greg Anderson
2004	Pomona	Tony Schumacher	John Force	Greg Anderson
2005	Pomona	Tony Schumacher	Tony Pedregon	Jeg Coughlin Jr
2006	Pomona	Tony Schumacher	John Force	Greg Anderson
2007	Pomona	Tony Schumacher	Robert Hight	Jeg Coughlin Jr
2008	Pomona	Larry Dixon	Cruz Pedregon	Greg Anderson
2009	Pomona	Antron Brown	Mike Neff	Greg Anderson
2010	Pomona	Antron Brown	John Force	Shane Gray
2011	Pomona	Del Worsham	Matt Hagan	Greg Stanfield
2012	Pomona	Brandon Bernstein	Cruz Pedregon	Allen Johnson
2013	Pomona	Shawn Langdon	Matt Hagan	Rickie Jones
2014	Pomona	Morgan Lucas	Matt Hagan	Erica Enders-Stevens
2015	Pomona	Shawn Langdon	Del Worsham	Allen Johnson
2016	Pomona	Doug Kalitta	Tommy Johnson Jr.	Greg Anderson
2017	Pomona	Brittany Force	Tommy Johnson Jr.	Bo Butner
2018	Pomona	Steve Torrence	J.R. Todd	Tanner Gray
2019	Pomona	Doug Kalitta	Jack Beckman	Jeg Coughlin Jr.
2020	Las Vegas	Antron Brown	Matt Hagan	Erica Enders
2021	Pomona	Steve Torrence	Bob Tasca III	Greg Anderson
2022	Pomona	Austin Prock	Cruz Pedregon	Greg Anderson
2023	Pomona	Doug Kalitta	Chad Green	Aaron Stanfield

NOTE: The Finals has been held in the Southwest area from 1965 to 1973, the Los Angeles metropolitan area from 1974 to 2019, and again since 2021, and Las Vegas in 2020.

References

1. "Na-Motorsports Track Entry". NA Motorsports. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
2. Festival tickets for In-N-Out's 75th anniversary event sold out, 2023, retrieved 20 October 2023
3. "Need for a safe place to speed: Pomona's hot rod history began with police". Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
4. • Post, Robert C. (1996). High Performance: The Culture and Technology of Drag Racing 1950-1990. Baltimore Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-4654-4.
5. "In-N-Out Burger named title sponsor of In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip and In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals". NHRA.com. NHRA. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
6. "Na-Motorsports Track Entry". NA Motorsports. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
7. "Na-Motorsports Track Entry". NA Motorsports. Retrieved 5 May 2010.

External links

• Official website
• NHRA's Official Site