Holley's LS Fest 2010 Same Day Coverage

[mark@lsxtv]

It's been a long time coming, but Holley's LS Fest is finally here! If you aren't able to attend, our same-day coverage will make sure that you don't miss a minute of the hard-hitting minute-to-minute action. Chocked full of drag racing, lateral-g pulling autocross action, hard-braking testing, and even a timed LS crate motor swap contest! For the inaugural Holley LS Fest, there's almost too much stuff to take in at once.

Special thanks to our event sponsor SCT Performance. Check out www.sctflash.com for all their great tuning solutions.



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[Drew]

Day one of the Holley LS Fest here at beautiful Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky has been met with rainy, overcast conditions, but that hasn't put a damper on all the action, as the Autocross portion of the event is underway on a wet but exciting course.



Brandy Morrow and the Spectre Performance team are here all the way from California with their mid-engine, LS7-powered El Camino taking part in each of the events. Stay tuned to LSXTV throughout the weekend as we bring you full coverage of all the action, from the dragstrip, to the Engine Swap Challenge, and everything in between!

[Drew]

Mark Koehler of Cincinnati, OH is here competing in the Drag Radial class, and laid down a great 7.648 at 173.38 MPH during testing prior to this evenings first qualifying session.



Steven Fereday, behind the wheel of the Late Model Racecraft Firebird all the way from Houston, TX, got loose about 200 feet out and pedaled his way to an 8.42 at 181.18 MPH.



Mark Carlyle and his gorgeous '07 ZO6, competing in the Unlimited class, stormed to an 8.952 at 162.35 MPH.



Mark Kostick slowed to a 9.82 after losing traction just beyond the 60 foot marker in his '99 Firebird powered by a nitrous-assisted 430-inch LSX engine.

[Drew]

Well, given the forecast earlier in the day, we didn't expect to see much action on the Beech Bend quarter mile today, but following a solid hour of testing, the rains have returned and the plug has been pulled for the day. The weather outlook is much better for the rest of the weekend, and tomorrow's schedule will go on as planned, with the rained out third qualifying session dependent on time.

[Drew]

Everyone here in Bowling Green awoke to much better weather this morning, with clear skies and the sun shining bright, and enthusiasm is high for a great day of action. The Autocross festivities are already underway on the still-damp course, and the drag strip drying process is nearly complete. The Engine Swap Challenge is set to kick off shortly, and the first round of drag racing qualifying should be rolling off within the hour.





Don and Sandy Davidson brought their award-winning 2007 Corvette convertible up from Florida to take part in the Show 'n Shine festivities here at the Holley LS Fest. Their 'Vette features a breathtaking pearl yellow paint job, and has a Procharger and long tube headers under the hood, producing a stout 870 horsepower. And this is not trailer queen...Don and Sandy drove the car 18 hours from the Sunshine State.



Lance Trickel from Oklahoma polishes the wheels on his immaculate LS-powered 1959 Cadillac Sedan Deville.





Jason Stapp of Ringgold, GA brought out his very much show-quality 2000 Camaro SS that sports a Wilson manifold with FAST fuel injection under the hood, with a full roll cage, Corbeau racing seats, racing harnesses, and the works.

[Drew]

The highly anticipated Engine Swap Challenge is in the books, and the action was intense. Two teams of four mechanics were given identical LS engines, and squared off in a race against one another to swap out the engine in their car without the use of any power tools. Teams had to supply their own vehicle, fluids, drain pans, hand tools, and everything else. Once complete, the first team to get the car to the starting line and make a pass down the quarter mile would be determined the winner. The winning team gets to keep the brand new engine, while the losing team can decide to either remove and return the engine or purchase it.





In an event that was expected to take an hour and a half or more, the team from The Hot Rod Barn in Williamsburg, Iowa completed the swap in just a mere 35 minutes, with the car running and moving under it's own power. These guys definitely used their heads in the planning for this event, arriving with an Oldsmobile Cutlass with a lift-off front end to make the swap just a little easier.



If you think these guys aren't busting their tails, just check out the blood spilled in this frantic battle against time.





The opposing team from Keisler Automotive had their struggles early, and just prior to placing the new LS engine in their Camaro, discovered a crack in the block following some frantic hammering to fit the bellhousing cover. The Hot Rod Barn team simply had to move the car from it's designed working space and pass inspection to be declared the winners.

[Drew]

While yesterday's drag racing portion of the High Noon Shootout was rained out, the scheduled Autocross portion is underway on the challenging course laid on the Beech Bend concrete oval. We'll have full results of the shootout later in the day as they become available. Be sure to check out our photo galleries from the weekend for plenty of images from the exciting Autocross.

[Drew]

Well, it would seem that the local meteorologist's call for chances of precipitation this weekend are actually the chance that it WON'T rain. With our heads up categories in the staging lanes and the drivers buckled in for the first round of qualifying, a short downpour befell the Beech Bend Raceway Park. We're going to be down for a while to wait out the drying process of the race track.

[Drew]

Keith Berry brought his Corvette up from Georgia to compete at the Holley LS Fest, and is definitely getting his moneys worth, entering in both the Drag Radial/Unlimited and True 10.5 categories. Berry indicated that he may be able to dip into the high 7's this weekend.



"Uncle Robin" Lawrence has his familiar GM Performance Parts Nova in attendance here this weekend.





Michael Meeks of Destin, FL is campaigning his Firebird in the nitrous Shut Your Face class, with a 440-inch LSX based powerplant with two kits of nitrous oxide and running on 295 Radials. Meeks' ride has run in the 8.50's on a 350 shot and depending on what the track will hold, could run much quicker with an additional kit. The Shut Your Face class came about following an onsaught of internet trash talk after last year's LSX Shootout in Memphis. So GM gave them a place to do exactly that...cash the check their mouths have been writing.



Mark Kostick's '99 Firebird is also entered in the Shut Your Face class. Kostick's ride is powered by a 430-inch LS iron block with canted valve heads, twin 4500 throttle bodies, and two nitrous fogger systems. The car has turned elapsed times in the 7.80's on 29x10.5's.

[Drew]

Outlaw Drag Radial



Mark Koehler made the best run of the round with an 8.093 at a slowing 148.12 MPH after lifting early and throwing the chutes around the 1,200 foot marker.



Keith Berry rounded out of the first round of Drag Radial in second with an 8.552 at 161.12 MPH.



Steve Fereday got off the line rather slow and couldn't find any traction each time he whacked the throttle, finally coasting through to a 13-second effort.

True 10.5



Keith Berry (far lane) topped True 10.5 qualifying with an 8.650 at 161.36 MPH. James Cordell powered his Trans Am to an off pace 9.855 at 139.03.

Shut Your Face



Mike Kostick leads the all-nitrous class after the first round with an 8.121 at 170.08 after struggling on the top end.



Adam Preston saw plenty of blue Kentucky sky on his qualifying effort, standing his '83 Camaro up a little more than he had planned and getting out near the right lane wall before lifting and coasting through to a 15.66.



Robin Lawrence slotted into the second spot with a 9.35 in his Nostalgia Pro Street Nova.



Michael Meeks never did get a good handle on his car, rolling slowly out of the gate and laboring all the way down the quarter mile to a 10.65 elapsed time.

Camaro - Pontiac G8

Jon Ebert 10.758 100.87
Allan Miller 12.516 121.10
Steven Fereday 17.103 62.74

Corvette Shootout

Mah Lawrence 9.438 144.49
Rodney Massengill 10.304 136.14
Brian Nutter 12.530 115.86
Mike Tooley 13.357 69.58