It’s pretty amazing when you stop and consider the impact GM’s LS engine platform has had on our hobby. Introduced in 2007 the long-running LS engine family has transformed how we hot rod our favorite Chevys. Holley saw this trend a long time ago and started running the LS Fest East in Bowling Green Kentucky every September. That event ended up growing so large that Holley decided to expand westward and see if the left coast people were down for a similar deal. And with that they launched the LS Fest West last year at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The event is three days of everything you could possibly want. Autocross and drag racing? Uh, duh, of course. But there are also things you wouldn’t expect like LS-powered drifters, LS-powered high-flying off road rigs. Want to do crazy donuts and burnouts? Yep, there’s a spot for you at Mr. Chows. Want to do it even crazier and maybe end up on TV? Well, Hoonigan was on hand and giving out free tires to those that could please the huge crowds. Curious what sort of power your car puts to the tires? Well, you’re in luck since there’s a chassis dyno on hand. On May 5th they even held a Cinco-De-Tire-Fryo burnout contest. Yea, tire companies love this event. On the slightly more sedate side there was a huge vendor’s midway and a show and shine. The one aspect that tied all these events together was all the rides had to be LS (or the newer LT platform) powered. If you couldn’t find something at this event to flip your switches and get you worked up then you should probably find a new pastime, stamps maybe?
One of the bigger events was the FM3 organized (Those fine people that bring us the Optima Series) Grand Championship Competition. This combined autocross, drag racing, road course, and the Baer Brakes sponsored 3S Challenge, into one huge three-day competition for an equally huge trophy and considerable bragging rights.
All-in-all it was a great weekend of tire smoke and perfect weather. Many of us here also brought along our rides for the various events with Super Chevy’s ’71 Chevelle wagon and Chevy Hi Performance’s orange second-gen Camaro getting beat on all weekend. So, if you’re not busy next May, and happened to be anywhere near Vegas then we highly recommend you put this on your to-do list. Until then here’s a huge gallery of images from the event for you to click through to see what you missed at 2018’s event.
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