While many Corvette owners
thrashed their vehicles on the autocross
or dragstrip, a handful parked their
pride and joy in the Show-N-Shine sec-
tion for spectators to gawk at. But truth
be told, Corvettes posing as show cars
were a minority and that gets no com-
plaint from us because we love seeing
these cars be used to their full potential.
Speaking of using cars to their full
potential, Holley set up LS Fest so that
owners can do just that—and it’s not
just autocross and drag racing that was
available. A fan favorite was the Dyno
Challenge where enthusiasts can have
their vehicle strapped down to a mobile
chassis dyno to see how much power
their car makes. As with every event,
there was competition involved and even
some prize money for the top finishers.
Corvettes excelled here, too, taking home
the top three spots in the naturally aspi-
rated (NA) category. Casey Artmayer’s
2008 Corvette cleaned house, taking First
place in the NA category and also win-
ning Highest Horsepower Vette by put-
ting down an impressive 602 horsepower
to the rear wheels.
Out on the Scoggin-Dickey dragstrip
there was, again, no shortage of Corvette
victories, starting with Josh Elam and his
’09 Corvette taking home the win in True
Street with an average of 8.92 seconds.
In this class, cars had to wear DOT-legal
tires along with other street-legal safety
equipment, then take a 30-minute drive
through the countryside directly before
making passes down the dragstrip to
prove their street-ability. Another class
dominated by Corvettes was Late Model
Heads-Up where Steven Fereday laid
down an unbeatable time of 8.05 sec-
onds at 164 mph. And last but not least,
in the Stick-Shift/Banger class, Internet
phenomenon Cleetus McFarland made
an impressive 8.27 at 175 mph pass in
his body-less C5 Corvette named Leroy
the Savage. He was bested only by Ray
Bulach in his ’99 Camaro who snuck in a
7.98-second pass.
If there’s anywhere Corvettes have
the most potential it’s on a road course.
With their rigid chassis, powerful
engine and lightweight body there aren’t
many other platforms that can touch
a Corvette. So, as expected, the Road
Course Challenge drew out its fair share
of Corvettes, too. Just a few miles from
34 VETTE 19.0 4
[LIFESTYLE]
2018 HOLLEY LS FEST EAST
A little weather on Sunday made for some pretty exciting times out on the 3S Chal-
lenge course, as evidenced by this C7 Grand Sport blasting through a massive puddle.The Beech Bend Raceway grandstands were packed all day long
Saturday as cars screamed down the 1960’s-era dragstrip.YouTube star Clee-
tus McFarland and his
infamous twin-turbo,
stripped-down C5 Cor-
vette put on a show all
weekend, making numer-
ous quarter-mile passes.Things didn’t always go
as planned, even for our
beloved Corvettes. This C5
ran into some trouble on
the NCM Motorsports Park
autocross that required
some help from the LS
Fest staff.