A couple of days before the four-day extravaganza at the expo center, a small group of street rods gathered at the parking lot of the University of Louisville\’s Cardinal Stadium, ready to be lead downtown by police escort. Four miles and some minutes later, the parade of roaring horsepower pulled into Fourth Street Live, the city\’s entertainment district and tourist destination.
Once the engines fell silent, the city\’s tourism board and the NSRA held a joint press conference for the media under the skylight of Fourth Street Live. There, it was announced for the third year in a row that the Nationals would remain in Louisville until 2025, guaranteeing the city would see over $15 million in revenue per year from the four-day extravaganza of chrome and power.
The thousands of cars attending the Nationals are worth a pretty penny, too. The tourism board announced the overall value of the 13,000-plus rides ready to gather at the expo center totaled over $350 million.
And all those rides were truly coming far and wide into Louisville. The NSRA said all 50 states and six countries had street rods rolling through on the first weekend of August 2019.
The press conference ended with a photo-op featuring a replica of the lamp post banner commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Nationals. Such banners are hung around downtown to promote the various events happening in the city, and this would be no different.