(Photos by Wes Allison) – One of the interesting things about Auto Club Raceway at Pomona is the fact that it’s completely surrounded by the city of La Verne and that means it is a highly regulated facility. There are noise restrictions, date restrictions, and that’s really just the start. Add in the fact that the NHR races happen in the late winter and the middle of the fall and you have some short days with respect to natural light.

The track does not have a permanent lighting system so the NHRA brings in huge MUSCO lighting trucks to throw light onto the surface for the evenings. The trucks do a fine job but the light that everyone wants to see is being thrown off the flames that the nitro cars generate on their way down the track.

These photos start during the day and meander their way into the night. Leah Pritchett lead qualifying and laid down the meanest runs of the back half of the year running down in the lower 3.60s to wow the crowd. Enjoy these nitro burning, header flaming photos!

Click the images below to expand them and then scroll on to see them all –