The site's association with drag racing predates the permanent facility. In 1952, a local car club known as the Choppers of Pomona, led by Sergeant Bud Coons of the Pomona Police Department and supported by Police Chief Ralph Parker, negotiated a lease with Los Angeles County to use the Fairgrounds parking lot as a controlled racing venue. Their argument — that supervised racing reduced youth traffic fatalities — persuaded county officials to allow events, provided the racers secured their own insurance through gate receipts. Coons and Parker, along with community donors, raised funds and paved the gravel lot, creating the forerunner of the modern Pomona dragstrip.
The first NHRA national event, the Southern California Championships, was held on the newly paved lot over an April weekend in 1953. Saturday attendance was estimated between 2,000 and 3,000; Sunday drew a reported 15,000 spectators.
The NHRA held its first Winternationals at Pomona Raceway in 1961, establishing it as the second national event on the NHRA calendar after the U.S. Nationals. Because the U.S. Nationals had long been nicknamed the "Big-Go," the Winternationals acquired the complementary nickname "Big-Go West." The event has been held at Pomona every year since. Early sponsorship came from Chief Auto Parts and its successor AutoZone, later from CSK Automotive, and subsequently from O'Reilly Auto Parts. In 2008, the Top Fuel and Funny Car categories were reduced to the now-standard 1,000-foot run distance. From 2021 onward, the Winternationals has been scheduled for late March or early April, placing it after the Gainesville round.
The season-ending NHRA Finals came to Pomona in 1984, relocated from the defunct Orange County International Raceway. Initial sponsorship came from Winston, the title sponsor of NHRA racing at the time. The Automobile Club of Southern California held naming rights for the Finals from 2010 to 2019 and again from 2021 to 2022. The 2020 Finals were moved to Las Vegas Motor Speedway when California prohibited mass gatherings during the pandemic, with Stellantis and Royal Dutch Shell sponsoring that edition. Beginning in 2023, In-N-Out Burger became the naming rights sponsor for both the circuit and the Finals. In November 2025, adverse weather forced cancellation of the professional categories; only Sportsman classes completed their programs, with Top Alcohol rounds abandoned after the opening round.
The Fairplex grounds supported additional racing formats in earlier eras. A half-mile dirt oval operated at the site from 1934 to 1937 and again in the 1950s until 1959. A 1.7-mile paved road course ran in 1998 and 1999. From 1956 to 1961, a two-mile temporary road course was laid out in the parking lot, hosting sports car competition during that period.
Pomona's unbroken run as the venue for the NHRA Winternationals since 1961 gives it a standing in American drag racing comparable to that of Indianapolis for oval racing — a permanent address for a flagship event that anchors the competitive calendar. The combination of hosting both the traditional season opener and the season finale cements its status as the symbolic bookend of the professional NHRA season, and its long institutional history with the sport makes it one of the most recognized names in drag racing worldwide.