A 1970 Buick Skylark GS 455 sits near the track during the The Buick GS Nationals at Beech Bend Raceway, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013, in Bowling Green, Ky. (Alex Slitz/Daily News)

About 5,000 people are expected to flock to Beech Bend Raceway starting today for the annual Buick GS Nationals.

The nationals have been in Bowling Green for more than 30 years, said Ron Joseph, public relations director for the event.

“Every one of the guys wants to come to Bowling Green,” he said. “Everyone loves Bowling Green.”

Joseph estimates there will be 500 cars at the event – which runs from today through Saturday – and about 5,000 people. Enthusiasts come from all over the world, including Denmark, Sweden, England and Australia, Joseph said.

Racing will occur each day of the Buick GS Nationals, and there will be a car show Friday morning. A 1956 Buick Pro Street will be on display at the event, according to gsnationals.com.

Joseph said most people don’t realize the Buick is a high-performance vehicle, so owners like to show off their cars’ capabilities at Beech Bend Raceway each year. Joseph said he enjoys the camaraderie among Buick enthusiasts.

“There’s no way to describe what goes on here,” Joseph said. “Everyone’s everyone’s friend.”

Beech Bend Raceway offers everything the crowd needs with its track, location and spectator seating. Bowling Green offers everything the visitors need in regard to shopping, food and entertainment, Joseph said.

Vicki Fitch, executive director of the Bowling Green Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the estimated economic impact of this year’s Buick GS Nationals is $750,000 to $1 million.

Warren County Judge-Executive Mike Buchanon said the annual event brings a lot of people to the area each year, which is good for the local economy. Bowling Green and Warren County are a hub of the racing and motorsports industry, Buchanon said.

“Our community’s image in the racing industry has grown terrifically over the years,” he said.

Although Bowling Green is best known for its Corvette culture, Buchanon said all makes and models of cars have a connection, and that broadens the visitor base in Bowling Green.

Beginning about 2005, Buchanon and other government officials discussed putting another entrance at Beech Bend Park.

“We’ve been down several avenues in trying to get that accomplished,” Buchanon said.

Levee work and possibly buying a bridge to put the entrance closer to the National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park are just a couple possibilities for the project that would hike the price tag to several million dollars, Buchanon said.

“The new entrance into the park is something I’m still an advocate for, but it’s not something that’s on the front burner right now simply because the funding’s not there,” Buchanon said.

He said the county is getting a plan in place for a new entrance to the park in the event funding becomes available.

Whatever the future holds for entrances to Beech Bend, the consensus among Buick enthusiasts is that Bowling Green is the favorite place for the Buick GS Nationals, Joseph said. Even people who don’t own a Buick are welcome to come to the event. Joseph said he and his fellow Buick enthusiasts would be happy to invite other types of cars to race against their Buicks.

“We’ll show them what we can do,” Joseph said.

General admission tickets to the Buick GS Nationals are available by the gate, according to gsnationals.com. Tickets are $20 per person per day.

— Follow business beat reporter Monica Spees on Twitter at twitter.com/BGDNbusiness or visit bgdailynews.com.