Holley LS Fest East 2018 Day 3: When It Rains, It Pours

It started raining on Saturday at the Holley LS Fest and unfortunately it did not stop. In fact, the skies opened up and it started pouring for hours on end. Beech Bend Raceway started to look more like a lagoon in areas than an actual race track. Some cars had yet to leave and were standing in huge pools of water looking sad and neglected. Hats off to the Holley crew, though, as they were still standing in their appointed positions directing the few vehicles that were coming into the gates, armed with nothing more that a plastic poncho in this miserable downpour, still smiling and helping anyway they could. 

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Holley called all but one event Sunday morning, the S3 Challenge. The S3 is normally a crowd favorite but unfortunately the stands were all but vacant on Sunday except for a few highly dedicated spectators. The S3 Challenge starts with two car lined up on a straightaway. The cars accelerate from a dead stop as quickly as possible and then make a hard 180-degree turn. The drivers will quickly accelerate again and then brake as late as possible to keep from sliding out of the braking area. If you brake too soon, it slows down your time. If you brake to late, you’ll take out the cones and be penalized with the addition of time on your pass. 

Special thanks to Bryan McTaggart for letting us use this sequence of shots of the Corvette taking a bath during the S3 Challenge.

This challenge is hard enough when the weather is good, but add in pouring rain, limited visibility, and small ponds of water and it’s virtually impossible to go fast. We watched a Corvette completely submerge itself in the standing water and kep on trucking like it wasn’t even there. Other than that, the only excitement was a first gen Camaro that spun out and almost hit the wall. This was extremely nerve wracking to watch as the cars were trying to go as fast as they could without loosing traction. They made lap after lap, the water was exploding and the tires dismantled the puddles, cones were flying through the air, and the lack of stability was all to obvious on the course. That concluded Day 3 of LS Fest East 2018 as the festivities ended early for the spectators. 

Despite the rain, Mike DuSold was able to win the Grand Champion Vintage Class and add to his collection of trophies for the weekend.

Even though it rained on the last day of the event, it was a spectacular show. It was non-stop LS action all day long and it offers a little bit of everything for the fans. Whether you like road racing, drag racing, autocross, drifting, or just showing off your car, LS Fest is definitely the place to be. With so many races going on in a single event, it’s really hard to see the entire show even with three days to walk the event. So play your cards right for next year and make sure you don’t miss the next one. It’s one crazy show that keeps getting bigger.

See you next year!

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Brian Havins

A gearhead for life, Brian is obsessed with all things fast. Banging gears, turning wrenches, and praying while spraying are just a few of his favorite things.
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