There is significant evidence indicating that import drag racing first started in Southern California in the mid-1960s, with Volkswagen Beetles, Sit-up-and-beg Ford Populars and Austin A40 Devons including documentation of quarter-mile passes published in Hot Rod Magazine as early as August 1965.

The island of Puerto Rico also has a long history of pioneering import drag racing in the mid 1970s and 1980s, and it is still a huge sport on the island.