NHRA US Nationals Underway

The NHRA US Nationals drag racing event has begun in Clermont, just North and West of Indy off us 74. It will be going on all week.

The NHRA calls the US Nationals the biggest drag racing event in the world. Thousands filled O'Reilly Raceway Park for the six day event. O'Reilly never releases attendance numbers but fans filled the benches Monday afternoon and they have for days. Some stayed in hotels. They ate in restaurants. They went shopping, leaving economic leaders are smiling. The deafening roar of the engines, the haze that hangs after race end, the pungent almost palpable smell of fuel. It's all part of the draw. "There's nothing ma'am like the smell of nitro in the morning. It's a wonderful thing," drag racing fan Maryann Cook said.