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It’s time again for the one and only Holley LS Fest at Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Kentucky, the home of the Corvette and host to the quickest LS-powered vehicles on earth this weekend. For an idea of everything that’s on the schedule, check out our event preview. We’ll be updating throughout the event, so bookmark this page and keep checking back for news, photos, and results!
Special thanks to our event coverage sponsor SCT Performance. Check out their fine line of tuners at www.sctflash.com.
Friday Pit Notes
It’s overcast and cool today, but no precipitation so far (knock on wood), and everyone’s taking advantage of the chance to make some hits on the dragstrip and turn laps on the autocross course. Round one of drag qualifying goes down this evening, but in the meantime here’s a few shots from the test-and-tune:
The track is hooking, and as a result, we've already seen a few casualties. John Reese's C5 lost its rearend right on the hit, shortly after this photo was taken. We're hoping to see him back in action this weekend, but doing a diff swap on a Corvette is no walk in the park...
Of course, it helps to be on the right tires - this LS3 240SX on low profile street rubber clearly lays out the scenic route to the stripe...
A glimpse under the hood of the IPS Motorsports C6 is like a trip to the museum of modern art.
Of course with that high rise manifold, not all of it fits under the hood any more. The first hit was a loafing 8.52 - we are confident that we'll see a much quicker pass in Q1 this afternoon.
Even the "forgotten LS," the front-wheel-drive LS4, is represented here today. The plates on the Monte read "LOL FWD"
In addition to their infamous black 5th Gen Camaro, Lingenfelter Performance Engineering is debuting their new white drag car this weekend.
The turbo setup on Lingenfelter's new car is a plumber's dream with all that mandrel-bent stainless. This is the cross-plane engine - we're told that Graham is on the way with the flat-plane LS, but they're not sure if they will be swapping it in or not for this weekend.
Autocross
It’s not all about straight line performance this weekend – there are also grip and drift contests on the agenda. The tight infield-and-oval course here at Beech Bend offers some challenges for both disciplines:
The Optima Camaro navigates the big bump on the autocross course, transitioning from the oval banking to the infield. Fun Fact: Thanks to a restraining order, this is as close as I am allowed to get to this particular car, so its clutch is safe this weekend...
This Ultima GTR looks like a hell of a lot of fun to drive around the cones.
Ford V8 swaps into Miatas have been around for years, but if you're going to go to the trouble of doing the conversion, why not put a real engine in like we have here? In the restaurant business, that wing would be classified as a "4-top"
RideTech honcho Bret Voelkel takes the "47 Hour" Camaro around the course. This car makes fast look easy, thanks in large part to the suspension.
We love the look of Spectre's Carbon Camaro - it's one second gen that gives us a bad case of the do-wants
Corvettes are meant to be driven, not sealed away in a bubble like some toy car. A modern LS swap just makes classics like this C2 more enjoyable.
More to come…
Stay tuned for the Q1 recap this evening. In the meantime, we’ll leave you with one final thought – if it rains, we know just who to blame…
Friday Qualifying Results
Tim Earle, in the near lane, leads BMR 5th Gen Camaro Challenge qualifying with a 13.072 pass on a 13-flat index.
Brian Black is at the top of the GMHTP/NOS "Shut Your Face Race" 1/8th mile 275 drag radial class qualifying after the first round
Joe Huneycutt's 8.698 at 155.47 has him at the top of the SAM LSX All Motor field for the time being
Mark Koehler (in the near lane) is currently the man to beat in Callies Drag Radial
That’s it for tonight! Be sure to check out the gallery page below, and come back tomorrow for more updates, photos, and results…
