2022 NSRA’s Street Rod Nationals Event Coverage

Herds of Horsepower at the Kentucky Expo Center

What comes to mind when you think about Louisville, Kentucky? The home of Muhammad Ali, Jennifer Lawrence, and Hunter S. Thompson? The fastest 2 minutes in sports in early May, a.k.a. the Kentucky Derby? The place where your Ford Super Duty was born? Louisville is, indeed, represented by all these things and more.

However, if you’re a big street truck and rod fan, then Louisville means one thing to you: the annual National Street Rod Association’s Street Rod Nationals. Every first weekend of August, thousands of fine machines with herds upon herds of horsepower roll into town to bask under the late summer sun (and the many Boeing 747s flying into and out of UPS’ Worldport) at the Kentucky Exposition Center. Whether it was a Chevy, a Dodge, a Ford or another make, as long as it was 30 years old or older (1992 being the cutoff for the 2022 Nationals), all trucks were welcome to participate in the massive custom street-rod party.

And what a party it was! This year’s Nationals were the first since 2019 to bring the kick-off parade to Fourth Street Live in Louisville’s business and entertainment district, with some 30 custom rides—including a few trucks—making the short trip downtown from the back lots of the Kentucky Expo Center. And speaking of the lot, it also served as the location for the NSRA Autocross, put on by Gateway Mustangs, where a few cool trucks burned it up around the cones to get the best runs of the day.

…the NSRA announced that next year’s street-rod giveaway would be based upon a 1977 Chevrolet C10 built by Harrison’s Rod and Custom of Greenville,Tennessee.

If that wasn’t enough, the NSRA announced that next year’s street-rod giveaway would be based upon a 1977 Chevrolet C10 built by Harrison’s Rod and Custom of Greenville, Tennessee. The lucky winner will receive this squarebody rig during the drawing on Aug. 5, 2023, during the last full day of the 54th annual Street Rod Nationals.

With trucks already popular on the showroom floor for decades, it only makes sense to see more old pickups mix it up with the muscle cars and street rods at events like the NSRA Street Rod Nationals. May we continue to see this trend grow in the years to come.