Corvettes Taking Over at Holley LS Fest West

Bringing the Tradition Out West

From its beginnings in Bowling Green, KY, the Holley LS Fest has been dedicated to celebrating everything powered by an LS or LT engine. In an effort to serve those living on the West Coast, they've added another event closer to the Pacific. Held in Las Vegas, NV LS Fest West is everything GM fans could hope for. 

(Nearly) Everyone is Welcome

The fine folks who run LS Fest are as about as inclusive as you can be for an event dedicated to GM-derive engines. Despite this, the only qualification to get in is the mandate that underhood you must have an LS or LT engine. They pay no mind to silly things like whether your motor is carbureted or fuel injected. They don't care if your engine breathes naturally or via forced induction like a turbo or supercharger. The only thing that matters is that your powerplant has GM origins. You can even show up in Rolls Royce, provided you've swapped in an LT4. 

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Three Days of Fun

LS Fest is a three-day event with activities for every category of LS enthusiast. From the Show n' Shine event for those with a penchant for washing and waxing to the high horsepower adrenaline junkies who participate in the dyno challenge, LS Fest brings the excitement. Things get really exciting during the autocross event. As most autocross enthusiasts will testify to, Corvettes tend to dominate the autocross course. The combination of high power, lightweight, and the wide frame of Corvettes is a near-perfect equation for asphalt domination. Behind the wheel of a Corvette, the autocross course is dispatched in 30-35 seconds. After sawing at the wheel all day, those better set up for a true American tradition moved towards the drag strip.

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Testing the Reflexes

It would be a shame to visit Las Vegas Speedway and not take advantage of the drag strip. No worries though, the brainy people behind LS Fest know their crowd and fit drag racing into the overall competition at their event. Here again, Corvettes are known to dominate the competition. The C7 platform is hard to beat for user-friendly drag racing. The modern era Corvette and all of its technological aids are kind to those unfamiliar with running their car down the 1320. Throw in wide rear tires, an LT1, and an 8-speed automatic transmission and you've basically got a drag racer with training wheels.  

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Taking it to the track

After participants had their fill of burnouts and drag racing things moved to the track. Tortured tires and heat cycled brakes were part of the day but damn if Corvettes of all generations don't look at home on the track. The LS-powered C3 Corvette pictured above looks like a delight to hurl around Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Having aftermarket backing from companies like Holley allows these Corvettes of yesteryear to run around with its younger descendants. 

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Bringing Home the Trophy

When all the tire smoke and brake dust cleared, there was a clear champion. Rich Willhoff took coming in second place at the 2017 LS Fest West as motivation for 2018. This year, he was a man on a mission and took home first place in the Road Course Challenge with the fastest lap of 1:22.38. He also drove the quickest lap in Baer Brakes 3S Challenge and the Lateral G/QA1 sponsored autocross challenges.  

>>Join the conversation about Corvettes are Holley LS Fest West right here on LS1Tech.

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