My only regret from this year’s burnout contest at the 2018 Holley LS Fest is that I had nothing to bring into the pit myself. I had a front-row seat to the magnificence and madness that was first introduced last year, and last year’s champion, the 1989 Pontiac Safari station wagon test car owned by Three Pedals, was sitting in line, waiting to defend it’s crown against a well-pitted selection of challengers, which included one nasty S-10, a 6.0-powered Chevrolet in black, a beastly GMC with a healthy amount of whoosh coming from underhood, a ratty ’56 Chevy wagon that had both Chad and I doing a double-take, an older GMC that looked like it had been liberated from U-Haul’s rental lot, a newer GTO and…a freaking rockbouncer. Did I say that I loved this event? Because I did.
The Burnout Challenge is an Australian-style burnout contest: one minute to do whatever illegal, immoral, reckless, dangerous thing you’ve ever wanted to do with a car that involves tire smoke. Drifting, donuts, and beating the rev limiter into submission aren’t just encouraged, but they are par for the course. After a minute, the air horn sounds and you are supposed to end your show. “Supposed to”…
But before the tire-frying madness could commence, a memorial was held in memory of Burt Reynolds using the most Bandit-like car we could find. After a moment of silence, the converted Camaro went out and drifted and shredded in a proper tribute before we started wheeling the competitors up, one-by-one, into the pit. With Chad egging them on, we cut them all loose. The GTO provided a stout baseline, whipping tight donuts in one corner before flinging steel belts out of the back end. The white GMC went to work making tons of smoke in wide circles, while the black Chevrolet added some drifting into the program. But then the ’56 rolled up and after Chad made sure that Rusty hadn’t been stolen, proceeded to cover the oval track in a layer of green tire smoke as the Chevy sang a song. For a finish, we even got some fire from underneath the ratty wagon. That was going to be difficult to top!
The rental-spec GMC tried, it really did, but it was more noise and glowing headers than tire smoke. The S-10’s pink-hued dance across most of the oval track was impressive and had the crowd going nuts. Seeing the Pontiac wagon moving under it’s own power was a win…the Three Pedals guys had been fighting issues the whole weekend, and during what should’ve been another stomping run, the engine kept laying over. Driver Josh Korosower clutch-kicked as much as he could, but this time around “Shaken” just wasn’t up to the challenge. And then, there was the rockbouncer, who was burning down HMMWV tires.
Ultimately, the choice for winner came down to the S-10 and the ’56, and after much deliberation, the old-school Chevy wagon took the crown this time, and the audience approved with a massive roar…just in time for the rain to start falling upon Beech Bend! We’ve got the photos, so click on a picture below and check out the action!
