2016 Goodguy’s Nashville Nationals Drive Out

At the 2016 Goodguys Nashville Nationals, more than 2,500 hot rods, muscle cars, and customs filled the infield at Nashville Superspeedway for a weekend billed as “America’s Favorite Car Show.” The event doubles as a proving ground through the Tanks, Inc. Hot Rod of the Year competition, which includes a 100-mile reliability run on real roads. Closing time brings its own reward, when hundreds of engines fire up at once for the drive home.

The Nashville Nationals is a weekend full of cool events and great cars…But one of my favorite things to see is when the show closes for the day…100’s of cool Hot Rods come to life at one time…Way cool…..Check it out!

There’s a moment at the end of every Goodguys Nashville Nationals that the show schedule doesn’t fully capture: when the gates close for the day, hundreds of engines that sat silent all afternoon fire up within minutes of each other. It’s not part of any official program, just what happens naturally when a few hundred hot rod owners all decide it’s time to head home at once. For one weekend each year, the Nashville Superspeedway becomes home to thousands of these cars, and the closing-time chorus is the payoff nobody puts on the flyer. What does several hundred carbureted V8s cranking over at once actually sound like?

⚑ Featured Gear

Start Car Conversations →

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

America’s Favorite Car Show, By the Numbers

Goodguys Rod & Custom Association bills itself as the producer of “America’s Favorite Car Show” and the world’s largest hot rodding association, and its Nashville Nationals lives up to that reputation with more than 2,500 hot rods, muscle cars, customs, and classic trucks filling the infield at Nashville Superspeedway over the course of the weekend. Beyond the static show field, the event doubles as a proving ground, with owners putting real miles on cars that spend most of the year under a cover.

The Hot Rod of the Year Competition

Each Goodguys event feeds into the Tanks, Inc. Hot Rod of the Year program, where a Top 12 field of builds competes not just on looks but on function, including a 100-mile reliability run that mixes scenic back roads with actual drag strip passes. That emphasis on driving the cars, not just displaying them, is part of why a “drive out” at closing time feels like such a fitting way to end the weekend.

Nashville Superspeedway’s Second Life

Nashville Superspeedway is a 1.33-mile concrete oval that has hosted a rotating mix of racing series since it opened in the early 2000s. When it isn’t hosting a race weekend, the track’s large infield and surrounding grounds double as host venue for exactly the kind of large, multi-day automotive gathering the Goodguys Nashville Nationals has become.

A National Calendar, Not Just One Weekend

Goodguys runs a rotating schedule of similarly formatted multi-day events across the country each year, hitting stops from the West Coast to the Midwest to the South. That rotating national footprint is part of why a single Goodguys date, like this Nashville stop, functions less like an isolated one-off show and more like a single scheduled leg of an entire touring circuit hot rodders follow.

The Roots of the Hot Rod Movement

Hot rodding traces back to dry lakes racing in Southern California and returning World War II veterans modifying prewar cars for speed in the late 1940s — a scrappy, garage-built hobby that predates the muscle car era by more than a decade. Groups like Goodguys still explicitly celebrate that lineage with rules that keep the focus on pre-1972 vehicles, tying today’s polished show fields back to that original hot rod culture.

Why ‘Drive Out’ Matters to This Culture

Unlike a museum-style display built around static preservation, Goodguys events lean hard into actually using the cars — car corrals, autocross-style competitions, and organized cruises are as central to the weekend as the judged show field. That emphasis on driving rather than trailering reflects a hobby built around usable machines, not garage queens that never turn a wheel.

A Weekend That Ends With Everyone Leaving at Once

That’s what makes the closing-time chorus of engines firing up together such a fitting bookend to the weekend. It isn’t scheduled, isn’t announced, and isn’t part of any official program — it’s simply what happens naturally when a few thousand owners who spent the weekend driving their cars all decide, within the same few minutes, that it’s time to point them toward home.

Judging More Than Just Paint and Chrome

The Hot Rod of the Year competition doesn’t stop at appearance. Judges also weigh engineering choices, drivability, and overall build quality, which is part of why the program has become a genuine badge of credibility among builders rather than just another trophy handed out at a show.

A Weekend Built Around More Than One Show Field

Beyond the static display cars, Goodguys events typically layer in a swap meet, a cars-for-sale corral, and vendor rows selling everything from period-correct parts to modern performance upgrades, giving attendees plenty to do even between walking the show field itself.

Tennessee’s Growing Reputation on the Hot Rod Circuit

Nashville’s inclusion on the national Goodguys schedule reflects a broader trend of the hot rod and muscle car hobby putting down roots well outside its traditional California and Midwest strongholds, as regional car culture across the South has grown right alongside the national shows that now visit it.

A Show That Rewards Repeat Visits

With more than 2,500 vehicles rotating through the show field over a single weekend, no two years of the Nashville Nationals look quite the same, giving returning attendees a genuine reason to make the trip again rather than assuming they’ve already seen everything the event has to offer.

The Broader Reach of Goodguys Membership

Beyond the show weekends themselves, Goodguys operates as a membership organization with its own magazine and event perks, giving hot rod owners a year-round connection to the hobby rather than one built purely around a handful of scheduled weekends.

A Reminder That the Hobby Keeps Growing

Every fresh crop of hot rods rolling onto the Nashville Superspeedway infield each year is a small sign that the hobby keeps attracting new builders, not just the same cars making repeat appearances — proof that the culture Goodguys was founded to celebrate is still actively growing rather than simply preserving what already exists.

The Payoff for Sticking Around Late

Attendees who leave early to beat traffic miss the exact moment that makes this show worth talking about afterward — proof that patience sometimes pays off more than a quick exit.

Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Republished by Blog Post Promoter