Las Vegas, Nevada… home to world-famous casinos, Nellis Air Force base, and Holley’s LS Fest West. If you’ve never been to LS Fest (on either side of the country), you might be wondering what’s the draw to Holley’s show. Let’s just say that they know how to throw a party, and something is always happening all weekend long. And even though this show is built around a specific engine platform, the variety of cars is nothing short of amazing. It’s unlike any other show on earth, with drag racing, an off-road exhibition, car show, road racing, burnout contests, drifting, and more.

Valley of Fire Cruise

Every year we kick off LS Fest West with the LSX Magazine Valley of Fire Cruise. This is a great event to relax and unwind the day before the big show kicks off. For this year’s cruise, we had about 40 vehicles show up before we headed off to Nevada’s Valley of Fire state park. The sun was out as the cars twisted and turned through the valley with some genuinely breathtaking scenery. At the end of the cruise, we stopped and hung out for a while to visit and take a few photos before heading back into Las Vegas to get ready for the big show.

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Open The Flood Gates

We wondered about the turnout for this year’s show due to the pandemic, but after the gates opened up on Friday, a massive crowd of cars and people kept rolling in. And from what we could tell, this event was the largest LS Fest in Sin City to date. 

Let’s Go Racing

One of the more popular events at LS Fest is undoubtedly the drag racing; fans pack the stands and watch cars and trucks race up and down the 1/4-mile into the evening hours. And while the vehicles are stellar, the people are fantastic, too. We cruised through the pits and talked to a few of them.

One of the more rowdy LS-swapped cars in the pits was a 1990 Mazda Miata owned by Peter Chavez out of Redlands, California. The 445 cubic-inch ProCharged LS engine was built by Hustler Racing engines out of Riverside, California. A Turbo 400 transmission with a Coan torque convertor transfers all of the power to the rear wheels, while the 4-link suspension keeps the tires hooked up. Chavez uses Torco E85, which allows the little 90-inch wheel-based two-seater to crank out 1,200 horsepower at the wheels with a Holley Dominator ECU. The best pass so far 7.97 in the 1/4 at 178 mph, with only 31-pounds of boost. Chavez said, “You will know if the car is going to go straight in the first 60-feet.”

Jessika Johnson showed up with her killer-looking sixth-gen Camaro from Los Angeles, California. The Camaro has a 6.2-liter engine with a built bottom end topped off with a 2.9-liter Whipple supercharger. The car still uses a Tremec TR6060 manual transmission for gear changes and an upgraded 9-inch independent rear axle. The Camaro currently holds the six-speed 1/4-mile record with a 9.56, and Jessika is looking to go faster. 

Carl Brown from Reno, Nevada, was also on the property with his awesome ZL1 Camaro. Brown said, “The car was originally built for the Texas Mile, but we wanted to bring it down here and see what we can do.” Brown didn’t make any changes to the Camaro in preparation for the 1/4-mile. The 421 cubic-inch LSX engine with twin 80/84 turbochargers makes 1,750 horsepower on 29-pounds of boost, which is enough to push the ZL1 to 208 mph in the mile. Brown expected the car to run in the 8-second zone easily. However, the team had a blown transmission line they were battling and trying to fix when we stopped by to visit. 

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Carl Brown's ZL1 was undoubtedly a show-stopper. The Camaro cranks out an impressive 1,750 horsepower on moderate boost.

Gettin’ Dirty

Another exciting exhibition at LS Fest is the off-road track. Here you can see buggies and trophy trucks race around the course while grabbing huge air off the jumps. While all of these vehicles are LS-powered, that’s where the similarities stop for these two and four-wheel drive machines. We saw several Fords, Chevrolets, GMCs, and even Volkswagen bugs with turbos and superchargers doing laps. 

One of the more popular vehicles doing hot laps was none other than Blake Wilkey and his Whippled LS-powered buggy. And when it comes to big air, the California native didn’t disappoint as he ripped the Shreedy Life Xcomp Tires sponsored buggy around the corners and aired it out over the massive jumps. 

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Grand Champion

The Grand Champion (GC) competition is one of our favorites. LS Fest offers three different classes for this event, and it’s very diverse. The GC classes consist of late-model (1990 or newer), vintage (1989 or older), and truck. All of the classes are required to race several events including, drag racing, autocross, and the 3S Challenge. Holley then determines the winner of each category by a points system. The one with the most points wins. Duke Langley took the win in late-model with his 2002 Corvette; Josh Leisinger took first place in vintage with his highly modified 1964 Corvette; and David Carroll took home the win in the truck class in his 1974 GMC C10. 

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Dyno Challenge

The rollers on the chassis dyno were repeatedly spinning throughout event. Thomas Davis took first place in the power-adder class with his 826 horsepower 2015 Corvette. Davis also took home the award for the highest horsepower Corvette; Cowan Gun’r took the second place trophy with 483 horsepower in his 1999 Corvette; third place went to Rafael Reyes with a pull of 478 horsepower in his 2004 Corvette. 

In the Non-Power Adder Class, Jordan Cooke won first place with his 2009 Corvette that made 525 horsepower. Travis Mcintosh pushed his 2010 Corvette to 452 horsepower for second place, just nudging out Michael Hitt’s 1970 Chevelle, which laid down 451 horsepower for third.

Car Show

As if there wasn’t enough to see, LS Fest offered a parking lot full of custom vehicles with just about everything you could imagine. We walked around the grounds on several different occasions to photograph and sometimes drool over some of these killer builds. This year, there was a wide variety of vintage hot rods, cruisers, trucks, and late-model vehicles. While we didn’t see as many wild swaps on display as in 2019, there were many more cars than the previous shows we’ve attended in Las Vegas. 

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The Smoke Show

Another crowd favorite is the burnout contest, and this year at LS Fest contestants were allowed to use the entire pad for “burnouts,” making for more of a freestyle event. The first burnout contest was hosted by none other than Cleetus McFarland himself. Each competitor went out and did their best to blow the tires off the rims, and some succeeded while others had car problems. All in all, it was a fantastic display of tire smoke, carnage, and excellent driving skills. 

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Drift It

Drifting is a measure of controlled chaos. The drivers of these cars are constantly on edge and push the limits like no other competition we’ve ever seen, and the drivers at LS Fest were no different. 

Vendor Row

While LS Fest offers a ton of cars to enjoy, the midway is always packed with people and vendors. If there’s a new part for an LS or LT in the industry, the odds of you finding it at this show are really good. You can talk with some of the biggest names in the automotive aftermarket there with products on display, including all of the Holley brands.

Once again, the Holley staff delivered a stellar event that was enjoyed by all. Our hats are off to the entire team for their hard work and dedication. And if you’ve never been to one of these events, you need to go. We expect LS Fest West 2022 will be bigger than ever, but our next stop will be LS Fest East on September 10-12 — be sure to mark your calendars, because we hope to see you there!

LS Fest West 2021 Results 

Late-Model Grand Champion

Name	Vehicle Number	Vehicle	DragRace	Autocross	3 S Challenge	Score	Rank
Duke Langley	24	2002 Chevrolet Corvette	85	100	98	283	1
Scot Spiewak	38	2007 Chevrolet Corvette	88	97	95	280	2
Craig Staley	40	2016 Chevrolet Corvette	99	71	99	269	3
Jordan Cooke	6	2009 Chevrolet Corvette	89	93	85	267	4
Andy Voelkel	67	2020 Chevrolet Corvette	77	92	97	266	5
John Maddox	25	2008 Chevrolet Corvette	91	86	86	263	6
August Falkner	12	2021 Chevrolet Camaro	73	88	94	255	7
Koda Atwood	2	2018 Chevrolet Camaro	79	81	93	253	8
Christopher Andreasen	1	2002 Chevrolet Camaro	70	87	89	246	9
Danny Weller	138	2017 Chevrolet Camaro	72	85	87	244	10
James Darden	10	2017 Chevrolet Camaro	63	96	83	242	11
Tony Medina	53	2021 Chevrolet Camaro	80	80	80	240	12
Hector Curiel	9	2018 Chevrolet Camaro	68	70	79	217	13
Mike Morrison	27	2017 Chevrolet Camaro	75	75	65	215	14
Goosse Mejia (2)	61	1970 Chevrolet Chevelle	62	64	82	208	15
Manuel Botelho	5	2015 Chevrolet Corvette	87	66	52	205	16
Kenneth West	45	2000 Chevrolet Corvette	69	61	74	204	17
Brent Franich	15	2013 Chevrolet Camaro	84	50	56	190	18
Bret Voelkel	68	2020 Chevrolet Corvette	0	89	96	185	19
Angela Barnhouse	3	2005 Honda S2000	49	63	72	184	20

Grand Champion Vintage

Name	Vehicle Number	Vehicle	DragRace	Autocross	3 S Challenge	Score	Rank
Josh Leisinger	122	1964 Chevrolet Corvette	100	99	100	299	1
Nick Relampagos	96	1970 Chevrolet Camaro	92	94	92	278	2
Roger Burman	120	1964 Chevrolet Corvette	98	84	91	273	3
Robby Unser	100	1970 Chevrolet Camaro	74	90	90	254	4
Harrison Beach	128	1964 Chevrolet Nova Wagon	94	78	71	243	5
Bob Gawlik	80	1991 Chevrolet Corvette	93	58	88	239	6
Richard Lammi	85	1977 Datsun 280z	81	82	69	232	7
Justin Hertel	82	1988 Pontiac Firebird	82	72	78	232	8
Marcus Fry	115	1970 Datsun Sedan	90	69	70	229	9
Garrett Randall	94	1970 Chevrolet Corvette	64	79	61	204	10
Kyle Phillips	93	1956 Chevrolet Bel Air	59	65	73	197	11
Michael Hitt	83	1970 Chevrolet Chevelle	60	68	68	196	12
Charles Huffhines	84	1972 Chevrolet Nova	53	77	60	190	13
Frankie Trutanic	99	1986 Buick Regal	96	3	76	175	14
Tom Kamman	116	1987 Chevrolet Corvette	67	95	0	162	15
Kimbal Mackinnon	119	1969 Chevrolet Chevelle	54	41	44	139	16
Chris Stoner	108	1988 Pontiac Firebird	0	56	64	120	17
Bret Madsen	86	1968 Chevrolet Camaro	0	60	51	111	18
Brad Thompson	109	1987 Chevrolet Caprice	65	10	30	105	19
Scott Timmons	183	1967 Chevy Camaro	0	46	57	103	20

Grand Champion Truck

Name	VehicleNumber	Vehicle	DragRace	Autocross	3 S Challenge	Score	Rank
David Carroll	77	1974 GMC C10	48	83	75	206	1
Josh Wojciechowski	166	1969 Ford F-100	71	55	50	176	2
Chris Allen	58	1963 Ford F-100	95	26	43	164	3
Byron McMahon	160	2000 Chevrolet Silverado 1500	97	1	49	147	4
Hondo Miller	39	1970 Chevrolet Blazer	0	67	67	134	5
Amanda Hitt	156	1961 Ford F-100	45	30	39	114	6
Michael Sephos	170	2000 Chevrolet Silverado 1500	50	20	26	96	7
Williams Mcdonald	158	2007 Chevrolet Silverado 1500	0	9	37	46	8
DANIEL ZAMORA	167	1977 Chevrolet C10	0	21	23	44	9
Steve McGaughys	159	1974 Chevrolet C10 Pickup	0	14	0	14	10
Sean Chandler	153	2009 GMC Sierra 1500	0	12	0	12	11
Carlos Arjon	151	2009 Chevrolet Silverado 1500	0	1	0	1	12
Fabian Padilla	162	1997 Chevrolet K1500	0	1	0	1	13
Ulysses Portillo	163	2003 Chevrolet Silverado 1500	0	0	0	0	14
Martin Ruiz	164	2000 Chevrolet Silverado 1500	0	0	0	0	15
Jose Sanchez	174	2003 Chevrolet Silverado 1500	0	0	0	0	16
Pat Sheely	165	1959 Chevrolet Truck	0	0	0	0	17
Micah Smith	173	1968 Chevrolet C10 Pickup	0	0	0	0	18
Israel Alcala	171	2004 Chevrolet Silverado 1500	0	0	0	0	19
Antonio Becerra-luna	132	1985 Chevrolet K5 Blazer	0	0	0	0	20

SHOW-N-SHINE: Sponsored by Hooker Black Heart and LS1 Tech

Class	Car #	City/State	Name	Car Year/ Model
Street Rod (Pre 49)	1392	Washington UT	Alan Ellis	1937/ Ford Sedan
Classic Custom (49-63)	1312	Las Vegas NV	James Brown	1962 / Chevy Impala
Muscle Car (64-74)	3108	Ventura CA	Griffin Steinfeld	1966 Chevy Chevelle
Street Machine (75-95)	1504		Detrick Towers	1984 Chevy
Late Model (96-present)	1207	El Cajon CA	Stephan Brown	2004 Mini Cooper
Non-Domestic	1365	Pomona Ca	Joseph Zamora	1995 Nissan 240SX
Classic Truck (Pre- 74)	1309	Sandy UT	Randy Weaver	1965 GMC 1500
Muscle Truck (75-95)	1514	Las Vegas NV	Daniel Rodriguez	1979 Chevy C10
Late Model Truck (96-Present)	3420	Los Angeles, CA	Ireal Valenzuel	2006 Chevy Colorado
Low Rider	178	Las Vegas, NV	Marcus Allen	1964 Chevy Impala
Under Construction	1196	Lakewood, CA	Jon Adler	1946 Chevrolet
Best Paint	3108	Ventura CA	Griffin Steinfeld	1966 Chevy Chevelle
Best Interior	325	Sparks NV	Kelly Wheeler	1964 Chevy II
Best Engine	3108	Sparks NV	Kelly Wheeler	1964 Chevy II
Best Engineered	1207	El Cajon CA	Stephen Brown	2004 Mini Cooper
Best of Show	1309	Sandy UT	Randy Weaver	1965 GMC 1500

DYNO CHALLENGE – Sponsored by HP Tuners & Bangshift.com

		HP	Number	Name	Year/Make/Model
Power Adder Class	1st	826.00	3253	Thomas Davis	2015 Chevy Corvette
	2nd	483.00	1999	Cowan Gun’r	1999 Chevy Corvette
	3rd	478.00	127	Rafael Reyes	2004 Chevy Corvette
Non- Power Adder Class	1st	525.00	6	Jordan Cooke	2009 Chevy Corvette
	2nd	452.00	1443	Travis Mcintosh	2010 Chevy Corvette
	3rd	451.00	83	Michael Hitt	1970 Chevy Chevelle
Highest Horsepower Corvette
		826.00	3253	Thomas Davis	2015 Chevy Corvette

Fastest Corvettes

	Number	Time	Name	Horsepower	Year
Fastest Corvette in the Drag Race		8.594	3254	Frank Despasito	1964 Chevy Corvette
Fastest Corvette in the Autocross	Course 1	101.617	24	Duke Langley	2002 Chev. Corvette
Fastest Corvette in the 3S Challenge	Combined Time	31.724	122	Josh Leisinger	1964 Chevy Corvette
Highest Horsepower Vette in Dyno Challenge		826 HP	3253	Thomas Davis	2015 Chevy Corvette