One of my favorite events to attend is the annual National Street Rod Association Street Rod Nationals at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Kentucky. As of late, it gives me an opportunity to not only write about it for other publications, but also reunite with my V8 family, my friends, and my dad\’s side of the family.
Unlike 2020, when the ongoing pandemic knocked out events left and right, 2021 allowed more of us to return to the events we loved so much.
A few changes were made for 2021, of course. One was the welcome return of the NSRA Streetkhana to the Street Rod Nationals, providing builders a stage to prove their rides could corner at speed. I even finally got a ride-around the course in a classic Mustang, too.
Then, there was the new start and end locations for the parade. Instead of the University of Louisville\’s Cardinal Stadium to Fourth Street Live route, the new route began at the expo center, and ended in the Paristown Point neighborhood between Smoketown and the Highlands.
Finally, the Nationals welcomed its guests with the sound of nitro-breathing dragsters and funny cars parked near the expo center revving up their engines in the event\’s first-ever Cacklefest.
What follows is a mega-gallery of the 52nd edition of the Street Rod Nationals, broken up into four parts.