The 1966 NHRA Nationals Indianapolis (Photo Archive)

The 12th Annual U.S. Nationals took place at Indianapolis Raceway Park in 1966, over Labor Day weekend as it always had. This was drag racing’s premier event and that year it ballooned to over 1,300 drag participants, both pro and amateur, showing up for the chance to win at one of only 89 categories. The ’66 Nationals was so massive that it took a crew of over 200 just to run the event, and the spectators topped over 170,000 that year.

I was looking on Flickr for images of Hudson pickups and some how stumbled upon this amazing collection with hundreds of color images from the 1966 Nationals. The Kodachrome pictures are absolutely stunning, and if you view the entire 207 photo album, it gives a rare glimpse into the diverse types of cars that ran that weekend: Gassers, Funny Cars, FEDs, T-Buckets, Nomads and… the Munster Koach?

All photos by NOMAD ETERNUS