Road Racers Take to the Strip at LS Fest West 2024

Holley’s LS Fest West is open to any vehicle powered by a Gen III, Gen IV, or Gen V GM small-block V-8. That covers a pretty broad array: For starters, all of the aluminum-block V-8s like the LS1, LS2, LS3, LS4, LS6, and LS7 are welcome. It also includes the iron- and aluminum-block truck engines, aftermarket engines using the same architectures, and the current, direct-injected counterparts like the LT1, LT2, and LT4. While you’d expect such an event to include Corvettes, Firebirds, GTOs, and Camaros, the popularity of the compact pushrod V-8 makes it the go-to swap for drifters and drag racers alike. We saw Volvo, BMW, Porsche, and Nissan cars with LS swaps, not to mention some seriously fast Fox-body Mustangs.

One of the most popular events at LS Fest is always the Grand Champion competition, a street car shootout that combines track driving and drag strip passes. It brought out 200 competitors to vie for the title in three classes: Truck, Vintage, and Late Model. All vehicles must use DOT-approved tires and record times on an autocross, the dragstrip, and a tight 3-S challenge course that timed cars through a horseshoe-shaped track that ended in a braking box. With two of the three events involving road handling and braking, the cars were certainly biased toward the track rather than the strip. Many of the entrants are Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational regulars, and while a couple of the entrants will be familiar to Hagerty readers, many of them were not familiar with a drag strip.

Considering these vehicles tended to be set up more for stopping and turning than outright acceleration, we didn’t expect hard launches. Still, many of these cars and trucks pack serious power and the drivers got the hang of the Christmas tree in no time. We wouldn’t be surprised if many of them are plotting new LS-powered dragstrip projects to add to their stable. Here are just some of our favorites.

Rick Lammi took the Vintage class win in his amethyst 1977 Nissan 280Z. Its LS3 is topped by an LSA supercharger that helps it put down 640hp to the wheels through a Ford 8.8-inch independent suspension.

David Carrol won the Truck classic in his 1973 K5 Blazer. The soft-top SUV was stripped down and ditched its four-wheel-drive and solid from axle in favor of No Limit Engineering front suspension. It’s powered by a twin-turbo powered by a Gen IV 5.3-liter.

After meeting him at SEMA, we featured Garrett Randall’s 1970 Corvette and got a closer look at the flared Stingray.

Cameron Bishop’s radical C10 was another Grand Champion we first spotted at SEMA. He competed here last year as well.

If you missed LS Fest West, Holley has two more this year so there’s still time to stake your claim for Grand Champion glory.

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