Event Holley LS Fest: Bowling Green Bound

Even though the Holley LS Fest has only been around for a few years, it has gained quite a loyal following and continues to grow. The 2012 event marks the third for LS Fest and proved to be a huge success with tons of action in every corner of the Beech Bend Raceway Park facility, located in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Whether you like drag racing, autocross, car shows, drifting or dyno competitions, LS Fest had it all and kept us quite busy when it came to covering all of the action.

Holley Ls Fest Bowling Green Bound Camaro

The format for the Holley LS Fest is unique as it caters to many genres and offers participants and spectators a number of activities to keep them energized all weekend long. Obviously, an LS engine must power all participating cars, but that doesn’t mean it had to have an LS engine originally. This event has a wide variety of engine-swapped cars, from classic muscle cars to imports, and just about everything in between. The variety of vehicles and events is the perfect mix of action and we enjoyed being on hand to cover it. This is the type of event that keeps our hobby fresh and exciting, so it will undoubtedly grow in the years to come.

Along with all of the separate events, the LS Fest staff crowns a Grand Champion of the event, for a car and driver that dominates the entire list of competitions. To win the Grand Champion award, you must participate in the drag racing, autocross, speed-stop challenge and countryside cruise events, and average the best times overall. Last year, it was Kyle Tucker in the Detroit Speed ’70 Camaro, and this year saw another second-generation Camaro take the Grand Championship position. For 2012, it was Brian Finch taking the win, in his silver Camaro—yet another Detroit Speed-equipped car.

Tim Poole came down from Indiana to participate in the Show-N-Shine portion of LS Fest and won the Best Muscle Car award. His bright yellow ’69 Camaro convertible had all sorts of custom tricks, including a polished Magnacharger.
Tim Poole came down from Indiana to participate in the Show-N-Shine portion of LS Fest and
Although this Monte Carlo has a mostly stock appearance, it ran strong all weekend and got lots of abuse by competing in nearly every activity LS Fest had to offer. Jarrod Lucas is the man with the heavy right foot.
Although this Monte Carlo has a mostly stock appearance, it ran strong all weekend and got
The autocross never had a dull moment with long lines of awesome cars waiting to take a shot at the tricky course. Chris Jacobs has a great time behind the wheel of his low-slung Chevelle.
The autocross never had a dull moment with long lines of awesome cars waiting to take a sh

The Countryside Cruise is a scavenger hunt that sends drivers into the back roads of Kentucky. This is a required competition for folks who want to contend for the Grand Champion award, and it’s just plain fun.
The Countryside Cruise is a scavenger hunt that sends drivers into the back roads of Kentu
Steve Pruitt’s ’78 Malibu has it all—a slick paint job, a clean interior and a killer LS engine. The 408ci stroker features an 88mm turbocharger, which helped the car to produce 749hp at the rear wheels during the Super Chevy Dyno Challenge. Steve drove this G-body from Lebanon, Tennessee, a four-hour round trip.
Steve Pruitt’s ’78 Malibu has it all—a slick paint job, a clean interior and a killer LS e
Steve Pruitt’s ’78 Malibu has it all—a slick paint job, a clean interior and a killer LS engine. The 408ci stroker features an 88mm turbocharger, which helped the car to produce 749hp at the rear wheels during the Super Chevy Dyno Challenge. Steve drove this G-body from Lebanon, Tennessee, a four-hour round trip.
Steve Pruitt’s ’78 Malibu has it all—a slick paint job, a clean interior and a killer LS e

Super Chevy once again sponsored the Dyno Challenge, which saw a huge increase in activity compared to last year. The crew from Midwest Mobile Dyno spent all three days of the event hustling to strap down each car and make a few pulls. Overall, they dyno-tested more than 80 cars, and had some staggering results. Greg Davidson came all the way from Pearland, Texas, and won the naturally aspirated class in his ’10 Camaro (converted into a Trans Am lookalike), making 544hp at the rear wheels with a 416ci stroker. In the power adder class, James Voyles blew the field away with a 1,282hp pull in his ’70 Nova. A 427ci engine with a 98mm turbo powers the wicked Nova, which also competed in the True Street drag racing class.

Without a doubt, the 2012 Holley LS Fest gathered a huge crowd, and even though the weather played a few tricks, we had a great time. From ridiculously-fast budget builds to all out, high-end track cars, the LS Fest had it all and we plan to make the annual trip to Bowling Green, Kentucky as long as they’ll let us. We’re already looking forward to next year’s event, but for now, take a look at some of our favorite shots from the 2012 event and you’ll quickly see why we had such an awesome time.

This fifth generation Camaro, driven by Greg Delancy, won the All Motor class with an 8.37 at 160 mph. The color, the sound and the performance provide the ultimate wow-factor.
This fifth generation Camaro, driven by Greg Delancy, won the All Motor class with an 8.37
Ridetech is always well represented at LS Fest, and the 48-hour Camaro made plenty of runs on the autocross course with Britt Marolf behind the wheel.
Ridetech is always well represented at LS Fest, and the 48-hour Camaro made plenty of runs
Brian Finch competed in all of the activities at LS Fest, laying down some incredible runs in the autocross and finishing sixth in the Speed Stop Challenge. Due to his consistent finishes, Brian went home with the Grand Champion prize.
Brian Finch competed in all of the activities at LS Fest, laying down some incredible runs

The “Saturday Night Special” is a ’70 C10 pickup, which is essentially a full race vehicle. It’s loud and fast, but Brad Coomer had a hard time getting it stopped in the box during the Speed Stop Challenge.
The “Saturday Night Special” is a ’70 C10 pickup, which is essentially a full race vehicle
Now this is what we like to see! A nostalgia drag car, a ’57 Chevy 150 to be exact, with an LS2 stuffed underhood. Tom Biederman drove this car 437 miles to attend the LS Fest and got 26 miles per gallon doing it.
Now this is what we like to see! A nostalgia drag car, a ’57 Chevy 150 to be exact, with a
Turbochargers are the hot ticket for big-time power, especially on an LS powerplant. This bright orange Nova sported a single-turbo setup and ran in the True Street class.
Turbochargers are the hot ticket for big-time power, especially on an LS powerplant. This

Third generation Camaros seldom get the respect they deserve, but Kyle Cord’s ’85 Z28 deserves even more. It’s plain and simple on the outside, but has an LS engine swap with a big single turbo setup underhood.
Third generation Camaros seldom get the respect they deserve, but Kyle Cord’s ’85 Z28 dese
The folks at Midwest Mobile Dyno stayed busy all weekend long with the Super Chevy Dyno Challenge. They dyno’d more than 80 cars.
The folks at Midwest Mobile Dyno stayed busy all weekend long with the Super Chevy Dyno Ch
James Voyles gave his ’70 Nova a thorough beating during LS Fest. Along with racing in True Street, he won the Power Adder class in the Super Chevy Dyno Challenge. The 427ci engine made 1,282hp, thanks to a 98mm turbo.
James Voyles gave his ’70 Nova a thorough beating during LS Fest. Along with racing in Tru

It’s great to see vintage iron get the LS engine swap treatment and this Chevy II is a fine example. It ran in the index class, but unfortunately had a driveline breakage during Saturday evening’s qualifying session.
It’s great to see vintage iron get the LS engine swap treatment and this Chevy II is a fin
Jason Chinn’s ’57 Chevy 150 is a super slick car with all sorts of great details, inside and out. An eye-catching color combination is matched with a custom interior and a nicely detailed engine.
Jason Chinn’s ’57 Chevy 150 is a super slick car with all sorts of great details, inside a