BROWNSBURG, Ind. — The rumble coming from the west side is the biggest drag race of the year underway in Brownsburg. Champions are crowned on Labor Day in the 70th running of the NHRA Toyota U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway Park.
The event is affectionately called "The Big Go." Over 900 pro and sportsman competitors are trying to qualify.
Ron Capps has won the U.S. Nationals back-to-back years in Funny Car. Capps compares this drag race to the prestige and aura of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway just a few miles away.
“I've always said this place has got so many spirits running around it,” Capps said. “Whether you look back at history, at just those moments, and I used to joke you could walk out and pick up a pebble anywhere in the pit area, and you could play a video from 1966, and Big Daddy Don Garlits may have walked over that same little pebble.”
Top Fuel driver Antron Brown is also a back-to-back champ at the U.S. Nationals.
"This track's been very special,” Brown said. “This is the time you want to peak at the right time of year when you come into this race right here. It's points and a half. It's a lot going on. It's a long, long weekend, but what makes this race so special is you have everybody from east, west, north and south that shows up."
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Tony Schumacher is a 10-time Top Fuel winner at the U.S. Nationals — the most wins ever at the event.
"The weather conditions are going to be better every day,” Schumacher said. “We're going to get to race day at 72 degrees. It's going to be fast. It's going to be exciting."
Racing legend Tony Stewart, from Columbus, Indiana, is a three-time NASCAR Cup champion and IndyCar race winner. But he’s now a 53-year-old rookie in NHRA Top Fuel.
Tony’s father, Nelson Stewart, was hanging out in the pits before “Smoke” arrived at the drag strip Friday.
“Drag racing in general is something I never thought he would do at all,” Nelson said. “It never, ever crossed my mind, but I think it's great. I really do. I think he's really enjoying it, and I think he’s having the time of his life, honestly."
This year, Tony took over the Top Fuel seat of his wife, Leah, who is expecting their first child, a boy, in November.
Has the race driving couple picked a name yet?
"I asked Leah that two weeks ago, and I prefaced my question with, 'I don't want to know, but have you picked a name?'” Nelson said. “I mean, I don't want to know what it is, but I want to know if you have made one. And she said, ‘Yes.’ And I told her, I said, ‘I hope that it wasn't something ridiculous I can't pronounce.’ And she started laughing. She said, ‘No, it's a good name.'"
Hot rod dragster drivers look to make their name good with a win on Labor Day in the U.S. Nationals.