LS-Powered Trucks Were the Flavor of the Day
After coming off a record attendance at the 2019 LS Fest East, Holley was able to dodge the hurricanes and manage the ‘Rona to pull off one of the few events in the Midwest in 2020. The staff at Holley and Beech Bend Raceway Park worked with local officials to make the event happen in the warm September heat in the historic rolling hills of southern Kentucky. Attendance was limited, and masks were required, but the action was everything we, and everyone else that was there, showed up to see. We were all there to get our much needed fix of horsepower, noise, rubber and speed.
Holley LS Fest East is held in Bowling Green, Kentucky, the home of Holley Performance – the “Powerhouse of Power”. The event is obviously centered around anything powered by an LS engine or current LT V8, and included lots of C10 trucks. The event features a plethora of activities like drag racing, autocross, drifting, dyno, burnout challenge, show-n-shine, and much more. With the LS/LT engine becoming a such a common sight in our C10’s, there were plenty of trucks participating in the Show-N-Shine portion of the event.
If you’ve never been to this facility, it’s a two lane country road coming in with an amusement park on the same grounds. It’s set on acres of rolling hills with black fencing winding over the hills with cattle peacefully grazing. When you enter through the main gate you get a bird’s eye view of the entire facility with a large wooden roller coaster atop a hill behind the track. Beech Bend is tucked down in a small valley and has a small creek on the back side. Unlike many facilities, there are quite a few mature trees, and a well shaded camping area. The grandstands are very up close and personal to the track and many of the original stands are wooden. The unique setting definitely has a nostalgic feeling.
2020 was the eleventh year for the Holley LS Fest East. After the first few years, it really started to take off with the popularity of the LS engine, so a western US event was added. Holley comes out swinging with their huge display on the vendor midway and many project vehicles. When it comes to making your truck go fast, they have just about everything you would need with all of the brands under their umbrella. We stopped and spoke with just about all of the other vendors on the midway, who were just as excited as we were to get out and go to an event.
As soon as we arrived, we opened the door to get our gear and were blasted with a Squarebody getting it on over on the dyno. YES. After hanging out for a bit we found ourselves over at the staging lanes taking in a lung full of race gas and rubber smoke. I’ve only been waiting about 9 months for that, and I’m pretty sure if I had ‘Rona, the smoke may very well have killed it. Hopefully. We got our ears full of burnout box and made our way up near the main entry area, where the Show-N-Shine was in full swing. As we checked out the scenery, we took some pictures of trucks, too. We had time to stop and talk to many of you, and got to hear the stories behind many of your builds. One of the things that we enjoy the most is getting to know as many of you as we can and sneaking a cold one or taking you up on that hot dog you’re grilling.
LS Fest is not your average “car” show, it’s far from it. It is not for the faint of heart, but it is for the rest of us that really like to go fast and burn gas!
