The Show Of Shows: Holley Performance Products’ LS Fest East 2019

Day One Recap

Holley’s LS Fest never disappoints, and this year is no exception. With tons of cars, people, and vendors, the show keeps growing every year while getting better. There was plenty of action to be had on Friday. Spectators had their choice of events to watch including the autocross, road racing, drag racing, car show, dyno challenge, drifting, and even a downhill race.

While we have seen some crazy swaps from past LS Fest events, 2019 is bringing out some of the best ones yet. From a US mail Jeep, work truck, hotrods, and even motorcycles, you can find just about any swap at this show. There is no lack of talent or creativity on the grounds of Beech Bend Drag Strip and Raceway.

Here are some of the images we captured during the first day.

If unique builds are your thing, LS Fest offers all kinds of crazy combinations. Here is an LS-swapped mail Jeep with a host of LS goodies and a cool set of steel wheels.

The Autocross was going all day long as competitors went from Beech Bend to NCM Park by the Corvette Musem. We saw vintage cars, modern cars, and trucks battling all day.

Drag racing is one of the more popular events with the spectators as street cars and racecars run most of the day keeping the stands full.

Day 2 Recap

We knew that Saturday was going to be big. It was evident that Friday was more packed than last year and we were betting on a lot of people. We were right. Beech Bend Raceway was busting at the seams, and cars were lined up just about everywhere possible on the grounds. We even heard a rumor that the traffic was backed up for miles as the vehicles kept rolling in all day long.

Much of Saturday’s schedule was the same Friday’s event with a few more added to the roster. For day 2, Holley added the Drift Challange as well as the Burnout Challange. Both events were big hits with the crowd and caused a ton of tire smoke to fill the air. Cars lined up and went one by one trying to generate as much smoke as they possibly could in the allowed time. The winner of the burnout contest was none other than Tim Grillot, Director of Engineering at Holley in his FairMonster. The Ford Fairmont has an LS engine with a monstrous 14-71 supercharger protruding out of the hood. Tim murder the tires as well as all of the competition. The yellow Fairmount’s tires billowed clouds out from under the car until they popped wreaking havoc on the quarter panels.

John Klahn was nice enough to give me a ride in his awesome ProCharged fourth-gen Trans Am. We ripped around the autocross course with the tires screaming for mercy as the 800-plus horsepower LS screamed, while making all of the boost noises under the hood.

Unfortunatly, the drag racing got off to a slow start due to not one, but three oil downs throughout the day. The crew got them all cleaned up and the cars racing again but it did push qualifying back as they pressed on late in the evening.

The burnouts continued into the evening as well. The Holliday Inn parking lot was packed as enthusiast and Police watched the burnouts. The Police were not as entertained as the spectators were.

Day 3 Recap: That’s a wrap! 

Unfortunatly, all good things must come to an end, and this includes Holley’s LS Fest for the 2019 season. It’s been a wild ride with more entertainment and races than anyone thought possible in a three-day show. This event saw a huge increase in traffic this year and will only continue to grow. Holley had a record number of vendors, cars, and spectators on hand and if you were at the show, you could tell.

We saw a lot of wheels-up action on Sunday as they started eliminations. We also saw some pretty wild wrecks too.

“Nitro Dave” Vasser made it into the semi-finals with his fourth-gen F-body know as Orange Juice in Ultra Street.

Casey Rance of Mailordertuner.com was the number one qualifier in the 240SX known as Agent Orange. This street car has been 197 mph in the 1/4-mile.

It’s funny to think that this massive show revolves around a single engine while bringing thousands of people together in Bowling Green, Kentucky. We are looking forward to next year and getting out to LS Fest West 2020. The only question we have is, what should we bring? If you have an idea, be sure and leave us a comment below.