LS Fest East.
Into the Top 8.

By Jonathan Nerren · Bowling Green, Kentucky

Thursday in downtown Bowling Green.

LS Fest East stretched over a few days, starting with Thursday load-in and a cruise into downtown Bowling Green for a static display. There was a good bit of foot traffic and roughly 100 cars taking part. Great showing.

Every single lap to get the setup right.

Friday the track went hot with early practice, leading into qualifying that evening. I landed ninth out of 45 drivers, securing our spot in Saturday’s Top 32. Midday practice and Top 32 competition came first on Saturday, followed by the Top 16 late that evening.

We had a well-set-up car, but it took every single lap we had to get where we needed to be. LS Fest implemented a new tire rule this year limiting us to 275 width, which required a good bit of setup work.

Top 32 to Top 8.

Saturday, I faced Justin Napier in his Monte Carlo in the Top 32, then Britt Kaukeinen in his C5 Corvette in the Top 16. That put us into the Top 8 against Rhys Conklin in his E46 BMW.

In those first Top 8 runs, the car was down on power—it felt like maybe 300 hp. I had to clutch-kick behind Rhys to keep the tires going, which is rarely needed with the Whipple. On my lead, I could stand on the throttle the entire run to keep the tires spinning, but without the power on tap it wasn’t as precise as normal. That pushed us to One More Time.

One More Time. Less power.

The battle went One More Time (OMT). Back in the pits, we replaced the plug wires. The engine would free-rev fine, but it wasn’t making power under load.

On the OMT chase, it was worse. By the lead run, it wouldn’t even spin second gear. That was the end of our Top 8 battle.

Back in North Carolina.

Back in North Carolina, we narrowed the issue down to fueling. We were planning to pull it apart next, expecting to find some telltale signs in the fuel filter.

Front and center with our partners.

Overall, we had a good showing at LS Fest. We parked with our guys at X-Comp Tires front and center all weekend, and also made an appearance at our friends’ Michigan Motorsports booth for a car display and autograph session.

The event was slammed. I didn’t have final numbers, but 45,000-plus attendees would be on par. The drift competition stole the show, given the spectator crowd.

Next: the CMD finale.

We’re getting everything buttoned back up for the final round of Catch My Drift in the S14 on the October 3–4 weekend. I’m currently first in CMD points and trying to take home that championship two years in a row!