Holley LS Fest West at Las Vegas

All that was missing were the elephants

Words and photos by Pete Ward

A prime example of the eclectic nature of Holley LS Fest West participants!

Holley’s LS Fest West is the automotive event answer to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s Three Ring Circus.

When “The Big Top” was pitched at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway May 3-5 it featured autocross, road racing, drifting, off road, dyno challenge, car show, but most important to DRO’s readership: Drag Racing….plus lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

The drag racers in attendance were an unconventional lot. The pits were packed with a bizzaro world of unique race cars. The entry list also included dozens of new, high-dollar ‘Vettes, Camaros and Cadillacs, whose owners gleefully abused them. Also competing were a gaggle of turncoat “Blue Oval” products. There was one component common to all constants: they were Chevy LS-powered.

Although the event fosters a laid-back attitude, once in the staging lanes, serious racing ensued.

LS Outlaw 275: Texan Casey Rance dominated LS Outlaw 275. His Nissan 240ZX Qualifed #1, set Top Speed/Low ET and to top it all off, won the Eliminator. In the final, he defeated Stephanie Strans (far lane) 480/153.23 to 4.88/151.78.

Late Model Heads Up: Not content with overpowering the Outlaw 275 field, Casey Rance duplicated his efforts in Late Model Heads Up. The final round saw him defeat Robert Russ (far lane) 7.97/156.06 to 8.96/152.81.

In Stick Eliminator Bern Mercado (near lane) bested a tardy Ricky Ruiz 10.40/132. to the #1 qualifier’s 10.00/150.78.

LSX Street King: Joran Vanderwoude wheeled his anthesis of a race car, a ’81 Mercury Zephyr four door sedan (!) to the LSX Street King crown. In the final he eliminated Miguel Calvillo 10.58/126.99 to 10.76/130.22.

In a tussle of ‘Vegas Home Boys for the LSX Rumble crown, Tim Fuller (far lane) ousted Ricky Morgan 17.91 (12.75 dial in)/107.23 to 13.43 (13.25 dial in)/99.55.

PHOTO EXTRA SLIDESHOW