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Well, we did it. We finally made our pilgrimage to mecca, or as most refer to it, Bowling Green, Kentucky. We packed our bags and headed out from our sunshine-state base of operations destined for the beautiful rolling hills of Kentucky for Holley LS Fest yesterday. When we arrived, we were greeted with the standard warm, sticky conditions that Kentucky is known for. Once we navigated to our spartan hotel accommodations, we found the streets were littered with LS muscle. We were like kids in a candy shop and couldn’t wait to get started.
That was yesterday; today, we hit the show running and we are here to tell you that if you didn’t get the chance to make it out, you are missing out on some spectacular stuff. Holley has gone to amazing lengths to put on a great show and this year they have pulled out all the stops. More than double the vendors from last year turned up and turnt up (got crazy in millennial talk). The hot temperatures and high humidity did little to hamper the energy wafting through the air and while everything here is either LS- or LT-powered, there are still enthusiasts from every walk of life (even imports and Mustang guys).
Most of the excitement is going down at Beech Bend Raceway, just a stone’s throw from the National Corvette Museum. After getting off the freeway, we headed past the museum headed for good clean American fun. Hanging a right off the main drive, we cross an old-timey train bridge that made us want to stop there for the day and take countless pictures — but no time for that, horsepower is afoot. Next, you take a leisurely drive through the Kentucky country side and past many — what we would deem ranches — acres of pastures filled with horses line the rolling road leading to the race track.
As we got nearer, a dilapidated old amusement park slipped into view and we began to think to ourselves “this can’t possibly be right” before we glanced in the rear view mirror and heard the thump of a cammed fourth-gen Camaro tailing us. Must be headed in the right direction. Finally we reached the entrance, a some what makeshift looking building that resembles the weigh station on the side of a freeway. After quickly flashing our media credentials, we were in. And that’s when the fun began. Holley has made sure that any spare moment you have is packed with opportunities to test your car’s mettle or speak to vendors about increasing it — the mettle we mean. Whether you’re into autocross, high performance driver education (HPDE), drag racing (a personal favorite of ours), just showing off your ride or even drifting, they’ve got you covered — you just have to decide how best to allocate your precious time. That’s why we decided to divide and concur. Lets start with the good stuff, drag racing.
Drag Racing Updates
Joe Davis brought out his interesting “Frankenstein” 1998 S-10 to run in the Grand Champion class. Davis swapped in to his truck a 200,000 mile L94 truck motor that still retains the stock bottom end, but has an upgraded cam and valvetrain. Added to the motor to make things more interesting is an LSA blower from a Cadillac. At 3480 pounds the truck has gone a 10.39 at 131 mph while putting down 670 hp to the tires. Last year Barry Cook went for a wild ride in his 1992 S-10 Blazer when he put it on the bumper and split the oil pan. That accident pushed Cook to upgrade his truck with a better suspension and chassis. Now he has run best of 8.96 at 151 mph on a stock bottom-end 5.3 liter engine using a pair of 66mm turbos. Cook actually drove the truck over an hour from Tennessee to the race, so this Blazer is far from a trailer queen. Former Pro Stock Racer Larry Morgan is at his first LS Fest racing a COPO for Holley’s Robin Lawrence. Recently Morgan has been working on various projects at his shop and bracket racing an ex-Pro Stock truck locally in Ohio. This is Morgan’s first time racing a COPO, and he would love racing one again in the future because he’s having a blast. Justin Keith brought out his ultra clean 2000 Camaro for its first quarter mile action. The car used to be a nitrous car and was running in the nine second zone, now it’s rocking a LSX 376 crate motor with a giant 91mm turbo feeding it boost. Keith expected the boosted beast to be a low eight second car after he gets everything sorted out. 
Dart Machinery had some of their new products on display, including their recently released line of drag racing oriented cranks, new aluminum skirted LSX block, and LSX heads. We will have more on these race-oriented products in the future! 
Record setting stick shift racer Ray Bulach had a very rough start to his LS Fest weekend when he had catastrophic driveline issues in testing. His team was working hard on fixing the broken rearend and transmission that occurred on his first hit at the track. They have all the parts and should make the next round of Street King qualifying Saturday. 
After two rounds of COPO Shootout qualifying the ageless wonder Al Corda made the biggest move in the class. Corda was second to last in the first session, but then ripped off a killer 10.07 pass in the second qualifier to run 1.193 under his 11.20 index to go number one.
Mark Carlyle was about to secure the number one spot in LSX Drag Radial in his Z06 Corvette running a smooth 4.57 pass in the first qualifier. Recent Carlyle had been having issues with his car going into massive power wheelies when the boost came in, but the team seems to have solved that issue in the tune.
In LSX Real Street Camron Massengale took the top spot in the first qualifier with a 7.68 quarter mile pass at 180 mph. Massengale and his team put a very soft tune-up in the car to be sure it made it from a to b without any issues.
Auto Cross
While in our experience, most of you are more into drag racing, the autocross crew turned out in droves and there was some pretty badass stuff competing. From C2 Corvettes, to first-gen Camaros, to even a G-machine Corvair, everything you could imagine was tossing its way across the autocross course.
The cars were split into two groups, green group and red group. The venues are split as well. There is an autocross course at both Beech Bend Raceway and at the National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park. Each group rotates between the venues after qualifying and, at noon, the Chevy High Performance Magazine High Noon Shootout. This shootout pits the top five fastest autocrossers of the morning against one another to determine who is the overall fast for the day in their group.
The competition was fierce. Even Al Unser, the two time Indianapolis 500 winner, was on hand to partake in the festivities. While most of the event went off without a hitch, there was an unfortunate accident where one of the cars spilt its guts all over the final braking area.
The man himself, Al Unser, piloting his second-gen Camaro.
The Chevy High Performance shoot out was dominated mostly by Corvette’s. Four Corvettes and two first-gen Camaros threw down to decide who would be the fastest of the day. When the dust settled, David Pereira threw down the fastest lap of the day at 31.430 besting Todd Rumpke, the runner up for the day, by almost three full seconds.
The action continues tomorrow with the overall winner being crowned on Sunday. Stay tuned for more coverage.
An unusual combo. An LS-powered Blazer throwing down at the NCM Motorsports Park autocross course.
HPDE
The HPDE event saw some of our favorite autocross stars take their stuff to the road course at the National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park to see what they had on a big boy course. The course offers more room for the racers to stretch the legs of their beloved rides, but also comes with considerably more hazard. Most racers were hitting speeds approaching 100 mph down the front straight before braking into a tight right hander.
Our favorite late-model movers where on hand to show case their abilities such as a 2015 Camaro Z/28 and a 2016 Corvette Z06.
Drift It Like You Stole It
The drifting event may have been the most pleasant surprise of all, as most of the participants we very skilled at their craft. While most were imports, they all shared common ground in the power beneath the bonnet. Ranging from S15 240s to FC Mazdas, the drifters were an eclectic group of, as one participant phrased it, “hipsters that learned to use tools.”
An FC RX-7 and a 240, both powered by LSs, hanging it out sideways.
While they may have been the odd group out, there were still welcomed with arm wide open as part of the LS clan. We were more than impressed with their driving skill and the builds on their cars. These guys are no joke.
All Shiny And Chrome
Some of the best looking LS cars we’ve ever seen in our lives showed up at the Show N’ Shine. Take for example Brent Schubring’s flawless fourth-gen Camaro. You may have seen it making the rounds on Facebook and for good reason. This thing is even more flawless in person than on the interwebs (stay tuned for a full feature).
Brent Schubring's ultra clean fourth-gen Camaro.
Whether you are into restomods or modern muscle, the show has everything for every walk of life. So, if you couldn’t make it this year, start planning for next year. And we’ll be back, giving you daily coverage of every minute. Tune in for more tomorrow as we recap day two which will include the LS swap challenge — you won’t want to miss it.
