photos by: the author
GM EFI Visits the Holley LS Fest: 2015!
The Holley LS Fest is probably one of the coolest events you could possibly attend. It’s jam-packed with plenty of racing action, car show participants, autocross and even drifting. Of course it’s open to the late-model GM crowd packing LS-based powerplants, but it’s also open to those classic, muscle and even import cars featuring a GEN-III or GEN-IV GM V8 swap!
If that’s not enough to persuade you, then you should seriously check out the Engine Swap Challenge. It’s a competition of two teams of two gentlemen facing off; in an attempt to see who could swap an LS powerplant into the engine bay two identical vehicles faster. This includes the removal of the stock (or existing) engine and the placement of the Holley-supplied engine, wiring harness, ECU, headers, accessories, and everything else in order to make the vehicles run and drive.
GM EFI Magazine not only attended for the second time since our launch, but we also sponsored the Countryside Cruise portion of the event, which was tailored as a way for the True Street drag racing class to prove that they were, indeed, legit street-friendly cars. It’s a 30-minute cruise through the Bowling Green countryside; where competitors are not permitted to pull over or open their hood, as they would be disqualified from the challenge. This goes far above and beyond what many other events do.
Since we’ve been coming to the endless sea of cars, spectators and mouth-watering hardware everywhere we looked that comes with this event, but we also realized that attendance continues to grow with each passing year! If you haven’t visited LS Fest yet, then we highly recommend that you book your plans for next year!
Drag Racing
Despite the changing times and tastes, drag racing is still among the most popular automotive sport, overall, and LS Fest never disappoints! There were plenty of different styles of cars (and trucks) hitting the track, including AMC Ramblers, first-gen Novas and of course, first-gen Camaros.
You can the view the full results, HERE.
Grand Champion, Autocross and 3S
If corners are your thing, then the Grand Champion, 3S and Autocross competitions were for you! Filled with nothing but corner-carving excitement from all over the country, some of the best handling late-model and classic muscle cars were out there showing how much fun a parking lot filled with cones can really be! And if you love trucks, there was plenty of those out there, too!
Yup, thanks to modern technology and the vast aftermarket available today, there was no shortage of ’60s Chevy pickups and even a Blazer out there putting down some serious track times! You can the full results of the Grand Champion, Autocross and 3S, HERE.
Engine Swap Challenge, Dyno Challenge, Show and Shine
The aforementioned Engine Swap Challenge was filled with nail-biting intensity and drama. It was Team Alabama vs. Ream Kentucky, in an all-out, high-octane dual to the finish. Just when you think one team had it, the other team would pull ahead. It was quite a bit of back and forth, but in the end, Team Kentucky took the win It was all a loss for Team Alabama, though, as they were offered their engine package and hardware at a very generous discount, which they took.
There were some big-number cars at LS Fest, and quite a few of them were hitting the on-the-spot chassis dyno for the Dyno Challenge. The highest-powered vehicle of them all, as it turned out, was Kyle Katzenbach’s 2007 Trailblazer SS that pumped out a rather eye-opening 1105 horsepower to the tires!
And of course, there were rows and rows of beautiful cars to be seen on the show field; from Larry Frieders’ ’62 Chevy Corvette, to Lynn and Kevin Kirby’s ’57 Chevy two-door taking Top honors, including $500 and a big trophy! You can the full results of the Engine Swap Challenge, Dyno Challenge and Show and Shine, HERE.
Rick Seitz is the owner and founder of GMEFI Magazine, and has a true love and passion for all vehicles. When he isn’t tuning, testing, or competing with the brand’s current crop of project vehicles, he’s busy tinkering and planning the next modifications for his own cars.
