Love was in the air Saturday at Bowling Green’s Beech Bend Raceway, and it smelled a lot like burnt rubber mixed with high-octane fuel exhaust.

At least that’s the way John Viscardo, brand manager for Car Craft magazine, explained it as he tooled around in a golf cart on the second day of the Car Craft Summer Nationals.

“That’s the smell of love,” Viscardo said as he passed the track where Dustin Tobitt of Gallatin, Tenn., was snaking his 114-octane-powered 1986 Mustang around the track in a “drifting” demonstration.

Tobitt was intentionally losing traction as the tattered American flag flying from the back of the purplish Mustang fluttered in rhythm with his sharp turns.

Viscardo, meanwhile, was trying to gain traction with an event in its second year in Bowling Green.

“We like it here,” said Viscardo, straining to be heard above the noise of revving engines and squealing tires. “Bowling Green is the home of the Corvette, and Holley (Performance Products) is based here. They’re one of our sponsors. And Beech Bend is a nice venue. I think it’ll be here for a while.”

Viscardo said the two-day summer nationals, which had been held in Minnesota and Wisconsin in the past, drew some 1,000 cars and 10,000 spectators last year.

Despite Friday’s threatening weather, scores of souped-up cars and trucks of all makes and models – many bearing little resemblance to what rolled out of the factory – were on display all around the Beech Bend grounds.

Many were competing in autocross or drag racing, but most were simply being admired on a summer day nearly as hot as some of the four-wheeled showpieces.

“Car-crafting is about doing it yourself,” Viscardo said. “You take a car that no one else appreciates and make it into something cool. Most of these people spend hours and a ton of money on their cars.”

While most are for show, cars like the Mustang built by Tobitt provide more thrill rides than the amusement park next door to the raceway.

“It’s a straight adrenaline rush,” Tobitt said of his drifting hobby. “The first time I rode in a car that was drifting, I said: ‘I gotta do this.’ It’s a little scary, and it’s an addictive sport.”

And an expensive one. Tobitt, 23, outfitted the Mustang with a supercharged 2001 Crown Victoria engine, and also pumps plenty of money into tires.

Although he isn’t burning rubber on the track, Glasgow resident Wendell Frazier echoed Tobitt’s sentiments about the cost of the hobby they both enjoy.

Frazier, retired from Glasgow’s Eaton Axle plant, had a 1955 Chevrolet with mirror-like chrome bumpers on display Saturday, and it’s one of four hot rods he owns.

“The ’55 is my favorite,” he said. “I’ve gone through no telling how many engines in it, and I’ve completely redone it two different times. A car like that is work every day.”

His collection of hot rods includes two Corvettes, one from 1973 and one from 1990, and a 1987 Camaro.

“I just like ’em,” Frazier said of his cars. “They’re pretty. You get attached to them.”

Such attachments were a common theme of other hot rodders, including Knoxville, Tenn., residents John and Debbie Foster. Their bright yellow 1970 Plymouth Barracuda bore the personalized license plate “BIGBUKS”, but John Foster said “Priceless” might be a better appellation.

“This was a love affair that started when I was a kid,” he said. “My folks managed a dragway, and I fell in love with Barracudas. It was a dream of mine to build this one, and I did it with my dad.”

Foster said he spent nearly four years restoring the Barracuda he purchased in 1997. He continues to spend money on the car, keeping the body shining and the 496-cubic-inch engine humming.

He has had offers to buy the car, which has won awards at car shows around the country, but Foster isn’t selling.

“This car is dedicated to my parents,” he said. “My dad got one ride in it before he passed away. Working on it with him is a memory that’ll last a lifetime. It’s gonna stay in my family.”

The Fosters aren’t unique in their attachment to their hot rod, said Viscardo, harkening back to that theme of love.

“All the people here are very proud of their vehicles,” he said. “Events like this one bring together old and young, different races and nationalities. They have a common love, which is their cars. That transcends everything.”