Despite the Rumors, Storied Pomona, Calif., Dragstrip Not Going Anywhere

• Both NHRA, L.A. County Fairplex delegates assure that Auto Club Raceway will remain in place.

• NHRA has multi-year contract with facility that’s considered the cradle of the sport.

• Fairplex President and CEO Walter Marquez says that Auto Club Raceway will remain part of the future for the 100-year-old property.

News of the Los Angeles County Fairplex’s intention to upgrade the 487-acre spread in Pomona, Calif., that includes the NHRA-sanctioned Auto Club Raceway sparked published speculation that the fabled dragstrip would be drag racing’s next victim to urban sprawl.

However, both Jeffrey Young, the NHRA’s vice president of communications, and Fairplex communications director Renee Hernandez discredited the rumor.

“Pomona [Auto Club Raceway] is not going away," Young said of the facility that traditionally has started and capped every NHRA season. “We have a multi-year contract with the Fairplex. The L.A. market is very important to us. It's been a staple of the sport. We go there twice a year and plan to continue to do that."

The venue hosted the first season-opening Winternationals in 1961 and since 1984 has added the Finals (except during the pandemic).

What triggered the latest round of gossip was last Wednesday’s community meeting at which Fairplex representatives presented opportunities from the land use counsel’s design team, giving neighbors and interested parties the chance to share insight and ask questions.

At that meeting, Fairplex president and CEO Walter Marquez told attendees that Auto Club Raceway will remain part of the future for the 100-year-old property, as will the L.A. County Fair. Furthermore, Marquez said the Fairplex has no plans to remove the racetrack, which recently served as a drive-through food pantry during the height of the pandemic. He indicated the dragstrip will be incorporated into whatever designs the Fairplex considers, Hernandez said.

Any published article that has spelled doom for Auto Club Raceway without substantiation “does no good for our sport,” Young said. “We've talked to the Fairplex, and we are committed to our two events yearly. We have an extended multi-year contract with the Fairplex and are pleased with that location, and so are they."

The track is in a largely residential area, and the neighbors apparently have no quarrel with that. Young said, “We wouldn't be able to sign a multi-year contract if that were not true."

Hernandez indicated that “at a potential full-build the site could yield up to 10,500 units of housing, 1.1 million square feet of new commercial activity, additional hotels, museum, educational/research facilities, and performance venues.”

She said Fairplex “has been engaging with the community on the future of the Fairplex site since 2017, including completion of the Strategic Plan in 2018, the publication of the Urban Land Institute Report in 2019, and ongoing outreach through today” and that the purpose of last Wednesday’s meeting was “to share the conceptual framework for a potential full-build of the Fairplex campus.

“Based on our outreach, we saw a high level of interest in public open space, in addition to housing, retaining agricultural character, retail, cultural and commercial uses at Fairplex. We also received a high level of interest in thinking about a multi-modal transportation network, creating safer streets for walking, biking, and alternative forms of transportation. The idea of housing on the site was generally positively received and affordable housing encouraged.”

And championship drag racing, which began in Southern California, will continue to be a part of the hub.