Since 2010, horsepower fanatics from around the world have converged on Beechbend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky every September to celebrate General Motors’ LS engine platform in all its forms. These days LS Fests draw thousands of enthusiasts from every walk to life and have been ranked alongside races like the Indianapolis 500 and NHRA U.S. Nationals as one of the must-attend motorsports events of the year, but the origin story of LS Fest isn’t as grandiose as you might expect.
“One day back in 2009, a bunch of us got together in a conference room at our headquarters to talk about what we could do to make the company more relevant to late model enthusiasts,” recalls Shane Weckerly of Holley Performance. “And at that point we were also starting to do a lot of the engine swap stuff, and we wanted to bring more awareness to that. The conversation eventually led to this idea that we should do an event that was focused on engine swaps – something where we’d invite basically anyone who had swapped an LS engine into something. [Retired former Holley Performance president and CEO] Tom Tomlinson chimed in and said, ‘Why limit it just to swaps? We should invite anyone with an LS engine to this.’ And that really got the idea off of the ground.”
Weckerly says that competition has been a part of LS Fest since its inception. But rather than focusing in on one specific racing discipline, organizers looked to events like the Optima Street Car Challenge for inspiration.
“We’re all enthusiasts here, and we were really excited about the pro touring trend, which was really starting to gain some momentum at that point. We had seen some of the other events that were starting to cater to that at the time, and we liked the idea of a format where it was more than just one type of skill set. Something that incorporated autocross, speed stops, and other disciplines. We’ve had lots of events in our history that have involved drag racing and car shows. We wanted to create something that went beyond that.”
While the increasing interest in pro touring-style builds also allowed for builders to develop vehicles that could do more than just blast down the quarter mile, Weckerly points out that it takes a measured approach to tuning in order to be truly competitive in this type of multi-discipline event.
“The best pro touring car is one that’s well rounded. And that’s really where the Grand Champion competition came from. The build had to be good from a show car standpoint, it had to be quick at the drag strip, and it had to be good on the autocross course. You might not have the ‘best’ car in any one of those specific things, but if you placed well enough in each, you could win the overall event.”
Organizers mandated one set of tires with a 200 treadwear minimum for the duration of the event as well as a few other rules in order to keep the playing field level, an effort which he says is an ongoing process. He also says that the car show element of LS Fest has been a part of the event since the beginning.
“Right from the get-go, the ultimate goal was to provide an entertaining atmosphere for enthusiasts. Something that would keep Holley Performance on their mind after the show. We talked a lot about Disneyland and the attractions they have, and the attachment that fans have to the name. We wanted people to have that same kind of experience at our event. We wanted them to be able to say, ‘I got to autocross – I’ve never done that before, and I’ve never seen a speed stop challenge before.’ We wanted people to come back from LS Fest and tell all of their friends that this is an event that’s not to be missed.”
Weckerly says that part of strategy behind creating a Disneyland-like atmosphere was to ensure there was something for everyone at LS Fest. “We didn’t want a three-ring circus; we wanted an eight-ring circus. So we also have things like the Engine Swap Challenge.”
As the name implies, the Engine Swap Challenge pits two teams against each other with the goal of getting an engine removed from a vehicle and a new LS engine installed in its place before their competitors can. The vehicles must be driven into the work area at the start of the competition and driven away in order to be considered “finished.” The winning team gets to keep the newly swapped-in engine.
“I think the first winning team took about half a day to do it,” he tells us. “They were pretty quick. But of course as word got around about the challenge, the competition ramped up substantially, and every year the teams got faster and faster. I think the quickest time to date is now less than 30 minutes. The teams can’t use impact wrenches and things like that – they have to use hand tools. But these days they’re using quick-disconnect front clips, quick-disconnect motor mounts, and so on. They’re getting pretty clever.”
The competition also inspired Holley to expand the concept out to engine swap seminars and other educational programs that are now held at LS Fest events. This year, racer and HCR Innovations owner Devin Vanderhoof will host a workshop that will provide expert insight into the ins and outs of working with Holley EFI.
While the first LS Fest event saw about 150 cars in attendance, Holley expects about 2,500 participating vehicles at LS Fest East this year, along with tens of thousands of spectators. The event’s substantial growth over the years convinced organizers to establish LS Fest West and LS Fest Texas as a means of bringing similar events to other regions of the U.S., while the footprint of LS Fest East has also expanded significantly in order to accommodate the influx of interest.
“We started out just using part of Beech Bend Raceway Park, but it has gotten so big that we’ve extended it out to the Corvette Museum, where we have participants also racing at their track, NCM Motorsports Park. We’ve incorporated Beech Bend Amusement Park into it as well; it has gotten so big that we take over the amusement park on Saturday, and the kids can get passes to go check out the rides during the event.” Recent years have also seen the addition of an off-road event to the LS Fest East roster, where folks with trophy trucks, Ultra 4 vehicles, and other LS-powered machines mix it up on a stadium-style track at Beech Bend Raceway, along with a drifting competition.
“We invited a drifting competitor to one of the first LS Fest events to do some demonstration runs, and everyone was just blown away,” says Weckerly. “Now, the drift portion of the event is huge – it’s a very hotly-contested competition.” He notes that the Burnout Contest has become a cornerstone of LS Fest, too.
“It started out small, but it’s a big deal now. It draws quite a crowd – folks love watching people burn down tires and melt down engines!”
As if that wasn’t enough, Baer Brakes will be awarding a $500 gift certificate to the competitor who posts the fastest combined times at Beech Bend Raceway and NCM Motorsports Park’s autocross course using Baer brakes. Participants as well as spectators can also take part in a digital scavenger hunt: Whoever presents organizers with photos of the most Holley brands on a car at LS Fest will be awarded gift certificate for use at Holley.com. Meet-and-greets with hot rodding luminaries like Jackstand Jimmy, Dr. Tune Em All, Westen Champlin, and The Donkmaster are also on the docket.
So where does LS Fest go from here? Weckerly’s prediction is succinct but apropos:
“More of everything!”
