2nd Annual GM Performance Parts LSX Shootout - Battle Of The Titans!

Heading out to Memphis has always proven to be a good time, and for this trip we were on our way to check out the 2nd Annual GM Performance Parts LSX Shootout! Hosted by the National Muscle Car Association (NMCA), these guys have started a new annual ritual to be put into action at the NMCA World Finals at Memphis Motorsports Park.

Although we missed the incredible action last year, you better believe we weren't about to make the same mistake again. But what exactly is the LSX Shootout? It's just the baddest heads-up sportsman door car racing in the country, only in this arena you better be packing an LS powerplant and have it residing in a GM car or truck.

We love grassroots drag racing. The smell of high octane in the morning really gets us pumped up. We especially enjoy the thunderous roar of finely tuned LSX powerplants. Even cooler is seeing these mega-powered engines resting comfortably within the confines of a full-body doorslammer in both street and all-out-track machines. That means real world chassis with big-horsepower that are capable of diving deep into the 7-second zone at over 200 mph, yet still look remarkably similar to most boulevard cruising street machines; say hello to the NMCA's LSX Shootout.

The LSX Shootout is by far one of the more innovative and fun groups of classes to follow. Granted, racing competitively in any class certainly isn't cheap, but you'll find that most involved within these classes work hard, putting in their 40 plus hours a week and tend to have family-supported teams. While this addition is only in its second year, you can expect it to grow exponentially and continue to entice many folks to join in on the fun. For a detailed list of rules, get on the web and log onto www.fasteststreetcar.com.

Robin Lawrence's '73 Nova
This is Robin Lawrence's rolling R&D center for GM Performance Parts' LS program, but truth be told, it's even more exciting to see the Nova in action! We have to give credit where credit is due. If you ever happen to see Lawrence in the pit area, be sure to stop by and say hello. He's a class act. Assuming he isn't scrambling to the staging lanes, he'll be more than happy to rap with you about the chassis, powertrain, and everything LS related.

Name: Robin Lawrence
Hometown: Galesburg, IL
Class: NMCA Nostalgia Pro Street
Best e.t.: 7.77 at 179 mph
Best 60-foot: 1.22
Motor: 440ci LSX
Intake: HRE sheetmetal twin dominator
Heads: GMPP LSX six-bolt CP
Power-adder: Single-stage NOS, 450 shot
Exhaust: Custom 2 1/8 to 2 1/4-inch with 4-inch collectors to 4-inch piping and Bassani mufflers
Transmission: Liberty clutchless five-speed; Clutch Masters/ACE twin disc 8-inch
Suspension front: TRZ, pinto rack, 2-inch drop spindles, upper lower control arms, TRZ spec'd Strange coilover shocks
Suspension rear: Quarter Max, antiroll bar, four-link, double-adjustable coilovers
Weight: 2,920 pounds with driver
Wheels and tires: Weld Racing Wheels, 26x4x15 Nitto front, 16x33x15 Nitto Drag 1320 rear
Rearend: Quarter Max kit 9-inch housing that's fabricated by Team Z motorsports, 4.57:1, spool
Power: 860 hp on motor, 1,330 hp with nitrous

Paul Major's '01 Corvette
Paul Major is no stranger to the Outlaw Drag Radial scene and has been making big noise with his wicked 454ci powerplant and monster 88mm twin-turbo setup. When it came to the LSX Shootout, Major swapped out the conventional mule for a 427ci LSX small-block with twin 76mm turbos and was able to produce mid-7-second performance during his first outing. Like a true sportsman, Major did credit a laundry list of people who have helped him, but also wanted to note Job Spetter Jr. from Turbo People in New York for tuning the beast.

Name: Paul Major
Hometown: Fort Salonga, NY
Class: Outlaw Drag Radial, LSx Drag Radial
Best e.t.: 7.23 at 205 mph
Best 60-foot: 1.28
Motor: PCH Racing Engines with custom Diamond Pistons, 427ci LSX
Intake: Performance Induction Specialties, 105mm throttle-body
Heads: ET Performance, C5R
Power-adder: Precision Turbo twin 76mm
Exhaust: American Racing 1 7/8-inch with a 3-inch collectors
Transmission: Powerglide, Neil Chance racing converter
Suspension front: Factory style
Suspension rear: Factory F-body style suspension by Carroll's Rod & Racecraft
Weight: 3,400 pounds with driver (can be adjusted from 3,250 to 3,500 for various sanctioning bodies)
Wheels and tires: Weld Racing Wheels, 26x4.5-15 M/T ET Front, P315/60R15 M/T ET Street Radial rear
Rearend: 9-inch
Power: 1,800 hp (rear wheel)

Paul Smith's '98 Corvette
Paul Smith and his son Paul Jr. are a two-man crew with their C5 Vette. The elder Smith was quick to point out that Junior has been the jockey for the past five years and in that time has grown to be not only deadly on the tree, but very focused whenever he's behind the wheel. The Smiths entered the C/LSX class for the event, which is a 10.00 class but is an NMCA regular in Open Comp. By the way, if the car looks familiar to you, it may be because they won Pinks All Out at Atlanta Raceway out of 450 entries!

Name: Paul Smith
Hometown: Atlanta, GA
Class: NMCA Open Comp, C/LSX 10.00 Index class
Best e.t.: 9.95 at 135.77 mph
Best 60-foot: 1.33
Motor: 427ci LS2
Intake: FAST, 90 mm
Heads: MTI Racing ported LS6 heads
Power-adder: None
Exhaust: MTI Racing 1 7/8-inch long tubes, 3-inch exhaust with an X-pipe
Transmission: Original, rebuilt by Rossler; 4,500-stall converter
Suspension: Stock, QA1 shocks
Weight: 3,155 pounds with driver
tires: 26x4.5-15 Hoosier front, 28x10.5-15 Hoosier rear
Rearend: IRS, DTE Stage 5 rearend, Quaife posi, 4.10:1 gears
Power: 500 hp (rear wheel)

Steve Fereday's '01 Camaro
If ever there was a fairy tale story for the shootout, it had to be Steve Fereday and his crew. Based out of Houston, Fereday can be seen running a number of eighth-mile races but had never run on a set of drag radials before. On the way to Memphis, he stopped off for a quick test session in New Jersey, which resulted in 7.70 run after lifting the pedal. On the next pass, he chattered the tires hard, breaking the driveshaft and ripping apart the transmission tailshaft. Oops. Not one to be defeated, he had another driveshaft red labeled overnight, swapped in his spare tranny, and journeyed on to his final stop. During qualifying, Fereday managed to qualify No. 1 and even took home the win with several consistent mid-7-second passes throughout the weekend. Who does he credit for the win? His entire crew, the FAST EFI system, and an AMS 1000 boost controller. When asked what he thought about the event, he simply said, "Man, it was awesome!" That says it all.

Name: Steve Fereday
Hometown: Houston, TX
Class: True 10.5, Outlaw Drag Radial, Limited 10.5, Drag Radial
Best e.t.: 7.57 at 193.94 mph
Best 60-foot: 1.23
Motor: 408ci LSX
Intake: Edelbrock Victor Jr., Accufab 95mm throttle-body
Heads: ET 265 Heads
Power-adder: Precision Turbo 106 mm, PT 3000 intercooler, Tial 60mm wastegate, two Tial 50mm blow-off valves
Exhaust: Racecraft 1 3/4 with American Racing Merge 3-inch collectors
Transmission: Rossler Powerglide; 4,000-stall converter Neil Chance bolt--together Pro Mod converter
Suspension front: Factory style Burkhart Chassis K-member, A-arms, Santhuff struts
Suspension rear: Factory F-body style suspension by Madman & Co. Racing control arms, panhard bar, and torque arm
Weight: 3,400 pounds with driver
Wheels and tires: Weld Racing Wheels, 26x4.5-15 ET Front, M/T P295/65R15 ET Street Radial rear
Rearend: Burkhart Chassis custom-fabricated 9-inch, 3.50:1 gears
Power: 2,000 hp (estimated flywheel)

Judson Massingill's '99 Camaro
Judson Massingill is no stranger to the world of sportsman drag racing. Over the years he's been an iconic fixture at most NMCA events. Massingill and his better half, Linda, own and teach at their hard-core vocational school in Houston, the School of Automotive Machinists. A unique aspect of the school is that they offer real-world, hands-on experience by bringing their students (as many as 36 on this particular outing) to the track, with everyone crewing on the school's cars. We just heard that the motor is out and they're planning big changes for next year, including a bit more compression, a different cam grind, and a new Liberty five-speed.

Name: Judson Massingill
Hometown: Houston, TX
Class: LSX All Motor
Best e.t.: 8.75 at 154.75 mph
Best 60-foot: 1.28
Motor: 427ci C5R
Intake: Beck Mechanical sheetmetal
Heads: C5R
Power-adder: None
Exhaust: Custom 2 1/8-inch to 2 1/4-inch with 4-inch collectors
Transmission: Jerico four-speed
Suspension front: Factory style, BMR tubular K-member, A-arms, and Santhuff struts
Suspension rear: Factory F-body style, BMR torque arm and swaybar, AFCO double-adjustable shocks, QA1 springs
Weight: 3,350 pounds with driver
Wheels and tires: Bogart Racing Wheels, 26x4.5-15 M/T ET Front, 28x10.5 M/T ET Drag slicks rear
Rearend: 9-inch, 5.14:1 gears
Power: 954 hp (flywheel)

Linda Massingill's '98 Camaro
Linda Massingill is the other half when it comes to the School of Automotive Machinists. Not one to simply stand on the line as a spectator, Linda pilots this cherry fourth-gen Camaro. Her powerplant of choice is a 500ci LS2 newly constructed with the help of ERL Performance and their trick deck plate, intake manifold spacers, and pressed sleeves (see Apr. '09 for complete build). This big-inch monster made well over 900 hp on the sauce, and they're dialing it in on the motor, running consistently in the bottom 10s. For this outing, Linda entered the True Street class, which requires every vehicle to be registered and insured and to complete a 30-mile cruise that's followed by three back-to-back passes. Unfortunately, one student miscalculated the amount of fuel needed by half a gallon, and the Camaro ran out of fuel on pass and was put out of contention this year. It was a lesson learned, and we can be sure it won't happen again. When asked about their motor program, Linda credited Comp Cams, Royal Purple for their synthetic 10W30 oil, Clevite bearings, MSD, ERL, and HP Tuners. What's in the works for next year? She's swapping over to a set of slicks and aiming for the 9s naturally aspirated!

Name: Linda Massingill
Hometown: Houston, TX
Class: True Street
Best e.t.: 10.20s
Best 60-foot: 1.55
Motor: 500ci LS2
Intake: LS7
Heads: Ported LS7
Power-adder: None
Exhaust: Custom 1 7/8-inch to 2-inch with 3 1/2-inch collectors
Transmission: TCI Turbo 400
Suspension front: Factory style, BMR tubular K-member, A-arms, and Santhuff struts
Suspension rear: Factory F-body style, BMR torque arm, AFCO double-adjustable shocks, QA1 springs
Weight: 3,720 pounds with driver
Wheels and tires: Center Line Warrior wheels, 26x4.5-15 M/T ET Front, 28x10.5 M/T ET Street rear
Rearend: 9-inch, 3.55:1 gears
Power: 717 hp on motor, 923 hp with nitrous

Danny Niceley's '00 Corvette
Danny Niceley is an adrenalin junkie by trade. For 10 years he was an avid Pro Stock drag boat competitor, until a serious crash grounded him for a bit. After a seven-year absence from any motorsports, he got into the Vette shown here. He's been going full-throttle ever since. Niceley can't get enough of the tarmac, but he really appreciates the camaraderie of his friends at the track.

Name: Danny Niceley
Hometown: Knoxville, TN
Class: C/LSX 10.00 Index class
Best e.t.: 9.73 at 144.83 mph
Best 60-foot: 1.32
Motor: 427ci LS7
Intake: GM LS7
Heads: ET Performance LS7
Power-adder: None
Exhaust: American Racing 1 7/8-inch with 3-inch collectors to an X-pipe
Transmission: Original 4L60 built to RPM Transmission's Level 5 specs, Yank 4,000-stall converter
Suspension: Stock, QA1 shocks
Weight: 3,250 pounds with driver
Wheels and tires: Bogart Racing Wheels, 26x4.5-15 Hoosier front, 28x10-15 Hoosier rear
Rearend: IRS, RPM Stage 5 rearend, Quaife posi, 3.73:1 gears
Power: 550-600 rwhp (estimated)