Old man winter has not been our friend this year, wearing out his welcome by at least two full months. Some of you may in fact be asking, “Where’s the global warming I paid for?!” As those who live in the American Southwest well know, the warm clime is here, and Las Vegas is especially alluring to Snowbirds looking to shake off the doldrums. Even going into LS Fest West the weekend of May 3 – 5, 2019, late-winter weather was shutting down air travel sporadically across the country, trapping travelers everywhere.
Travelers the first weekend of May would have been well-served by ground travel—LS-powered in particular. Arriving by car to the sunny, majestic desert oasis never gets old, as those of us who live in this corner of the country know well. Those sunny skies would be darkened with clouds—only this time it was the kind we liked: tire smoke. Now in its third year, the Holley LS Fest West presented by Car Craft started out small with a “soft” launch in 2017 with a few hundred cars, then came to full-strength in 2018. This year was the break-out, block-buster year. Those who pointed their Camaros and Corvettes to LS Fest West in 2019 were treated to an overload of racing, drifting, off-roading, side shows, and tons of new parts.
Camaros and Corvettes, however, weren’t the only vehicles in attendance at the Strip at Las Vegas. Holley LS Fest West is all about stuffing Chevy’s new small-block into everything imaginable, and we found them in all manner of makes, some of them quite thought provoking. If we turn the clock back 20 years, LS swaps were considered high-end options almost exclusively for the professional builder. As the number of engines produced rose, so did availability, and the creativity of hot rodders. Muscle car swaps into older GM platforms became popular, with early F-bodies and A-bodies taking the early lead.
In 2019, we saw just about everything LS-swapped, and Las Vegas had them in spades. Volvos, Mercedes, Porsches, Mustangs, Falcons, AMCs, and even Minis were showing off their new colors for fans. On the vendor side, there were parts from Holley, and dozens of others to help the DIY enthusiast get those swaps completed, from wiring harnesses, transmission kits, and motor mounts, to exhaust parts, oil pans, and accessory drives. Indeed, LS Fest West has most of the new and used stuff you need to make your LS-swap vehicle better and faster than it was when it was new.
Arguably far more important than the parts themselves is the expertise you’ll find all in one place. LS Fest parts manufacturers are always trying new things and coming up with solutions, and each time we go, we find more exciting stuff. The racers and fans themselves have much to share as well, so if you are in the middle of an LS swap, want to give it a try, or just see what it’s all about, this is definitely the event you want to hit. In a few more months, we’ll be pointing the Car Craft caravan to the Holley LS Fest in Bowling Green, KY on September 6 – 8, 2019 for the East Coast version. For more information, log on to www.lsfest.com. See you there!
Drag Race Final Round Results
LS Outlaw 275
Champion Casey Rance Benton, TX ’95 240SX .069 4.802 153.23
R/U Stephanie Strans Phoenix, AZ ’02 Camaro .071 4.881 151.78
Late-Model Heads-Up
Champion Casey Rance Benton, TX ’10 Camaro .607 7.972 156.06
R/U Robert Russ Litchfield Park, AZ ’10 ZR1 .406 8.967 152.81
LS Truck
Champion Kyle Condos Lyman, WY ’01 Silverado .377 9.714 63.16
R/U Frank Yee Las Vegas ’01 Silverado broke
Stick
Champion Bern Mercado Perris, CA ’00 Camaro .149 10.406 132.11
R/U Ricky Ruiz Las Vegas ’67 Camaro .620 10.005 150.7
LSX Street King
Champion Jordan Verderwoude Lethbridge, AB ’81 Mercury Zephyr .061 10.582 126.99
R/U Miguel Calvillo Albquerque, NM ’67 Camaro .109 10.769 130.22
LSX Rumble
Champion Timothy Fuller Las Vegas Camaro .167 12.915 107.23
R/U Ricky Morgan North Las Vegas ’07 Trailblazer .192 13.439 99.55
Show & Shine
Class: City/State: Name: Car/Year/Make/Model:
Street Rod (Pre 49) Rialto, CA Jose Delgadillo 1936/Ford/Coup
Classic Custom (49-63) Sandy, UT Randy Weaver 1953/Chevy/Bel Air
Muscle Car (64-74) North Las Vegas, NV Harry Lige 1966/Chevy/Nova
Street Machine (75-95) Reno, NV Robert Malm 1986/Chevy/Monte Carlo
Late Model (96-present) San Jose, CA Danial Book 2001/Chevy/ Camaro
Non-Domestic Dallas, X Jeff Allen 1963/Volvo
Classic Truck (Pre-74) Saint George, UT Steve Neilson 1959/Chevy/Apache
Muscle Truck (75-95) Alta Loma, CA Robert Dill 1983/Chevy/C10
Late Model Truck (96-present) Las Vegas, NV Delgado Hernandez 2005/Chevy/SSR
Under Construction Henderson, NV John Roark 1996/Chevy/Tahoe
Just Because Rialto, CA Jose Delgadillo 1936/Ford/Coup
Best Paint Saint George, UT Steve Neilson 1959/Chevy/Apache
Best Interior Lake Havasu, AZ Paul Williams 1955/Chevy/Nomad
Holley President’s Pick Ventura, CA Erin Helm 1975/Chevy/C3500
Sponsors Pick Mesa, AZ Dan Glauser 1969/Chevy/C10
Best Engine Napa, CA Garrett Brumley 1972/Chevy/C10
Best Engineered Sandy, UT Randy Weaver 1953/Chevy/Bel Air
Best of Show Sandy, UT Randy Weaver 1953/Chevy/Bel Air
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