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2012 Holley LS Fest Same Day Coverage

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Good morning, race fans! It’s elimination day here at Beech Bend Raceway in scenic Bowling Green, Kentucky, home of the Corvette and our event organizer, Holley [2]. The weather is beautiful, the cars are quick, and we will be bringing you updates all day long from the track. As always, we would like to thank our event coverage sponsor, SCT Performance, for sponsoring our event coverage and letting us make this happen. Be sure to visit them at www.sctflash.com [3] to see their full line of tuners.

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The autocross track is going strong today...

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Ray Litz goes up hard on the bumper in a single-pass time trial, getting daylight under all four wheels. But as they say, what goes up must come down...

We’re headed down to the finals in all classes, and we have a few intermediate results to share with you…

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In the Drag Radial semi-finals, the quickest man on the property, Mark Carlyle, was just a bit too quick on the tree, giving Mark Koehler a free pass into the finals...

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Mike Meeks just needed to stage and take the green to advance to the Drag Radial finals, but elected to attempt a full pass and crossed the center line, earning a DQ instead. As a result, Mark Koehler will have a single for the championship, and there will be no runner-up

 

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FINAL RESULTS

Drag Radial

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Mark Koehler qualified #3 in the 5-car Drag Radial field, and had to face a total of one opponent on his way to the winner's circle. A first round no-show by Anthony Manna advanced him uncontested into round 2, where an unfortunate redlight from the odds-on favorite, #1 qualifier Mark Carlyle, gave him the go-ahead into the finals. That round would also be uncontested, as would-be finalist Mike Meeks turned a competition bye into a disqualification by crossing the center line, about the only way you can lose a "single."

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Real Street

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The Real Street class provided some of the most entertaining racing of the weekend - starting off with a 9-car field, the ladder came down to top qualifier Adam Preston versus #5-qualified George Toll. Toll was running a consistent 8.7's pace, getting past James Rowlett's shutdown pass in the first round, then driving around a holeshot by John Ebert in the second round to score a semi-final bye. Preston took the odd-field first round bye, then dispached Ted Timmerman 8.540 to 8.753 before meeting Rodney Massengale in the semi-finals. Preston took the win stripe to stripe, ahead by more than four hundredths at the tree and never looking back. In the money round, a mere .006 seconds separated Preston and Toll when the ambers flashed, but down-track, Preston just had more steam in the boiler and took the win, 8.523 to 8.756.

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All Motor

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The All Motor class came down to a final showdown between the number one and two qualifiers, Jud Massingill and Greg Delancy. Massingill effectively got a practice hit at the tree against a limping Ron Mower in the first round, then collected his competition bye in the second round by breaking the beams, then backing out. On the other side of the ladder, Delancy had to get around a holeshot by Robert Strong in the opening round, then managed to squeak past Joe Huneycutt's '02 Camaro in the semis to earn a spot in the final round. When the ambers flashed in the last All Motor pairing, Delancy took a huge jump ahead at the tree, then held on to it down-track, running 8.372 against Massingill's off-pace 8.403.

 

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Shut Your Face

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The photo tells the tale in the Shut Your Face final - after getting down to the last two cars Saturday night, track conditions were such that everyone involved agreed to postpone the matchup between Brian Black and Mike Meeks until Sunday. Unfortunately, the race was over before it began, with Meeks going red by a heartbreaking 0.014 seconds and handing the class win to Black.

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LSX Rumble

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The large and eclectic field of LS-powered cars and trucks in the LSX Rumble index class came down to a final pairing between Ray Bulach and B Palcisko at the end of the day. Palcisko, with the slower 12.50 dial, got the tree first and was off to a lazy .141 start. Three seconds later, Bulach got the green and took a full tenth off of Palcisko's reaction time. At the top end Palcisco broke out trying to stay in front, running 12.426 to Bulach's winning 9.641.

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5th Gen Camaro

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Shawn Calabrese took the uncontested win in the final round of 5th Gen Camaro competition when his scheduled opponent, J. Perrymon, mysteriously failed to show after running a 14.000-on-14.00 pass in the quarter finals and running out a semi-final bye to a 13.763

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That’s it for our Holley LS Fest coverage for 2012 – if you missed the event this year, be sure to mark your calendars for 2013. It’s a must-see for any fan of late model GM power.

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Good morning, LS fans! It’s not a beautiful day here at Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Kentucky just yet – overnight rain hung around until just a short while ago, but the sun is peeking through the clouds, and the hard-working staff here at the track is chasing away the moisture on the dragstrip and autocross course. We expect to be up and running very soon, so stay tuned for updates throughout the day.

Of course, we need to thank our event coverage sponsor, SCT Performance, for their generous assistance in making it possible for us to bring it all to you. Be sure to visit them at www.sctflash.com [3] to see their full line of tuners.

Saturday Pit Notes

 

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Two myths busted: "Corvettes don't drag race" and "Corvette owners never leave their cars out in the rain"

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The water is still a little deep there on the autocross course, but this too shall pass...

 

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The #6 COPO Camaro on display at Holley's trailer drew an early crowd - this is the naturally-aspirated 427 flavor.

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Conservatively speaking, there may be more non-GM cars powered by LS engines here than there are cars and trucks that came with them in the first place. The best way to keep a Nissan 240SX or Mazda RX-7 from sucking is by swapping in an LS...

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Oh yes. There will be bumper-dragging today.

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We're loving the faux vinyl top on Lingenfelter's RS Camaro.

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Ray Litz' turbo Camaro has some interesting details - the valve covers are just a beginning.

 

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We're almost ready to start racing, so check back in a little bit for more photos and Round 2 of qualifying...

Round 2 Qualifying Order – Heads Up Classes

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The drifters spent some time helping to clean the water off the autocross track...

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The margin between success and failure in the Speed Stop Challenge is razor-thin...

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Brian Black carries the front wheels out to the 330 in 'Shut Your Face' qualifying

Final Qualifying Order – Heads Up Classes

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Mark Carlyle goes into tomorrow's Drag Radial eliminations in the top slot, running 7.619 at 203.65 MPH. His best trap speed of qualifying, an astounding 206.45, is fully 13 MPH faster than his nearest competition, #2 qualifier Mike Brown.

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Jud Massingill, in the near lane, continues to be the man to beat in LSX All Motor. His 8.138 had a full tenth on the rest of the field at the end of qualifying. His second round qualifying partner in the far lane, Joe Huneycutt, is arguably far more fortunate, though. In the third round, he was able to keep his Camaro off the walls after losing traction and cutting cross-track (below). Though he took out the 1/8th mile reflector, he still held on to the #3 spot on the ladder based on his previous performance.

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Adam Preston has the top rung on the Real Street ladder, clocking an 8.409 at 162.47 MPH in qualifying. He's got a tenth and a half on number two qualifier Charles Polly, but seven of the nine car field are in the eights, so anything can happen on the way to the top...

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Shut Your Face Eliminations

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The eighth-mile Shut Your Face class ran through eliminations today, coming down to a final pair before calling it a night. Tomorrow, Mike Meeks and his sinister black 5th Gen will go up against top qualifier Brian Black and his red Trans Am.

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That’s it for tonight. Check back tomorrow for coverage of eliminations!

[67]We’ve got boots on the ground for the 2011 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 once again this weekend. There’s a lot going on over the next couple of days, so for your convenience we’re posting both the Main Schedule and the Drag Race Schedule for your reference. 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 – without their support, this wouldn’t be possible. Check out their fine line of tuners at www.sctflash.com [3].

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Click here to display Main Schedule full size in a new tab [68]

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Click here to display Drag Race Schedule full size in a new tab [69]

Qualifying Round 1

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