Aside from all the action on the track, the LSX Shootout also featured an excellent car show with some very clean late-model rides. Though this two-day event was run side-by-side with the NMCA Auto Show & Shine event (which was open to all cars), the LSX cars numbered at least half the total entries. As if sharing in the experience of badass LS-powered iron all parked in one place weren't enough, all entrants received a NMCA/GMPP goodie bag, and a plethora of awards were handed out. These included Best Late-Model GTO, Best LS-Powered Specialty Vehicle, Best LS-Powered Interior, Top 20 LS Muscle Cars--and of course, the GM High-Tech Performance Magazine Editors' Choice award--to name but a few. All class winners were given a plaque for their efforts, and most received a jacket as well. Winners of the Top 20 LS Muscle Cars received silver desk figurines, and the Best of Show LS-Powered Late Model and Best of Show LS-Powered Hybrid/Engine Swap winners for Sunday each received not only a jacket, but also a six-foot trophy!
In all, 22 cars entered into the LS portion of the car show on Saturday, with 21 entering on Sunday (some of these had been there on Saturday as well). Beyond this, a few other LS-powered rides were on hand that, for whatever reason, had not entered into contention. But a car show is nothing if no one shows up to see it, and happily, an untold number of spectators showed up to drool over the freshly-waxed paint and finely detailed engine compartments of these phenomenal cars.
Some of the finer cars in attendance included Jim Lucas' 2001 WS-6, which had a bevy of tasteful exterior add-ons as well as 440 rwhp under the hood thanks to mods like AFR heads and a Thunder Racing camshaft. Jim and wife Linda made it well worth their trip from Newark, OH, as they competed in True Street on Saturday and took home honors for Best LS-powered Late-Model Firebird in the car show on Sunday. Also clocking in on Sunday was the Trans Am of David Childress, a car/driver combination that had just been crowned LSX King during Saturday's True Street event. Childress went home with awards here, too, including the nod for Fastest Street Car Magazine Editors' Choice. With its stellar metallic paint job and turbocharged LS1 underhood, his 1998 `Bird had looks to kill and the talons to back it up! A few clean daily drivers were in attendance as well, like Christian Randall's 1998 Z28 that he's racked up 160,000 miles on since buying it new (in the process, also adding items like C5 Z06-style wheels and a Borla exhaust). There were also some very unique cars and trucks that entered into contention for the Best of Show LS-Powered Hybrid/Engine Swap award, including Travis Chaney's 1996 Civic (which sat on a modified C5 chassis and won the class on Saturday), a turbo LS-powered 240SX owned by Blake Hughes, and perhaps coolest of all, an LS7-equipped Ultima GTR!
 Though tough to capture fully...  Though tough to capture fully on film (er, digital media), the exterior of Mike Ress' SS was stunning, to say the least. The car's Long Beach Blue Pearl paint job with Rainbow Extreme Ghost Flames combined with the impressive big-inch mill underhood to make it Saturday's winner of GMHTP's Editors' Choice award. |  The underhood majesty of Jason...  The underhood majesty of Jason Pfitzner's T/A was incredible, even eclipsing that of the car's ultra-clean exterior. The details are what set this car apart and earned it GMHTP's Editors' Choice award for Sunday, and just as an example, Jason relocated many parts of the A/C system so that it could be retained while making room for the custom headers and 64mm turbochargers. |  One of the coolest CTS-Vs...  One of the coolest CTS-Vs in attendance was this 2005 model owned by Jesse Bubb. Though its exterior was immaculate, the real action was under the hood, where an LSX block enabled 458-ci of Magnuson-blown fury. A Viper tranny holds up to the car's 850+ rwhp just fine, but unfortunately its rear end isn't quite up to snuff--but that didn't stop Jesse from driving the 500 miles from Indiana to bring the car here! |