photos: courtesy of Holley Performance
Official Release:
Holley’s Intergalactic Ford Festival Invades Bowling Green September 26-29th
Holley is pleased to announce the inaugural Intergalactic Ford Festival, taking place September 26-29that Beech Bend Raceway. Holley is teaming up with the NMRA All-Ford World Finals for what is sure to become the ULTIMATE all-Ford party! Holley will bring their well-known Grand Champion and Autocross competitions along with pro-level and amateur drifting, a dyno challenge, an Australian style burnout contest and more to mix with the NMRA world class drag racing and UPR Products Show-N-Shine. There’s even an opportunity to wheel your Ford powered ride around NCM Motorsports Park’s road course during the SCCA Time Trial Nationals! Click here to preregister now!
Holley’s Ford Festival is open to any vehicle with a Ford powerplant. Whether you’ve got a Fairlane, a Mustang, Ford Focus, or a Powerstroke, there’s something for everyone (Lincoln & Mercury included)! Have you swapped a Ford engine into a custom rat rod or other vehicle make? We approve! Bring it out and join in the fun!
The first Ford Festival wouldn’t be up to snuff if we didn’t invite some of the most talented drivers and YouTube personalities in motorsport to share in our behind-the-wheel shenanigans. Pro Formula Drift drivers Vaughn Gittin, Jr. and Chelsea DeNofa will be onsite along with other Ford powered drift cars showcasing their slideways skills inside the oval track.
Popular YouTuber Cleetus McFarland and “Neighbor” his supercharged, tire roasting Crown Vic will also be on-hand inciting burnouts from participants during the Nitto Tire Burnout Challenge. Who knows, he may even flip on the lights and chase some competitors around the autocross!
If you’re a fan of monster trucks, Holley’s Ford Festival has got you covered. Nothing screams “AMERICA!” like having BIGFOOT on display. That’s right! Bob Chandler’s original BIGFOOT, the very same that revolutionized monster truck competitions for over three decades and was featured in films like “Take This Job & Shove It!”, “Police Academy” and others will be onsite at Beech Bend for all to see!
The autocross is a great way to test both the ability of car and driver at Holley’s Ford Festival. The autocross is a low speed competition designed to highlight the handling, acceleration and braking of your ride. The wide sweepers, tight hairpins, chicanes, and slalom sections of the course will keep your adrenaline pumping from start to finish. You’re guaranteed to enjoy a lot of track time over the course of the three day event. Please see below for classes, rules, and safety requirements! Click here to register!
The 3S Challenge puts your ability to Speed, Stop, and Steer your blue oval to the test! Drivers had better be proficient at all three if they hope to be competitive in this event segment. The format pits both drivers side-by-side in a low speed drag race, a 180-degree turnaround at the end, a slalom on the return, and a stop box to complete the run. Each “run” will be a total of left side course time added to right side course time. The winner is determined by the fastest combined left side and right side run. All runs must be clean – any contact with course markers, cones or stop box cones will result in a DNF. Click here to register!
Holley is looking to crown a Holley Ford Festival Grand Champion at Holley’s Ford Festival! The Grand Champion competitor who can do the best all-around job on the autocross, the 3S Challenge and on the dragstrip will be crowned the winner. Follow the link to read more about what the Grand Champion competition involves. Click here to register for the Grand Champion competition!
Have you built a Ford that is second to none? Holley is joining forces with the NMRA car show series at the Holley Ford Festival to deliver one of the best Ford powered shows on earth! If nice paint and flawless chrome is your thing, then the UPR Products Show-N-Shine is the place for you. Experienced judges will be on hand looking for the details and the Holley crew will be choosing their favorites as well. Click here to register!
Holley’s Ford Festival wouldn’t be complete without the inclusion of a road course element of competition. Thankfully the NCM Motorsports Park is close by, with their 3.2 mile road course featuring turns modeled after several world famous circuits. For the Ford Festival Holley has partnered with the SCCA to integrate Fords into the Time Trial Nationals going on Friday thru Sunday and Holley is hosting a free Test-and-Tune day on Thursday for anyone that registers for the SCCA Time Trial Nationals!
Thursday’s Test-and-Tune will include training and extra track time to help drivers better familiarize themselves to the track! Training also goes on throughout the entire weekend at TT Nationals, so this event is perfect for beginners as well as experienced road course junkies. Holley will be giving out awards to the fastest Fords throughout the weekend, so get your Ford prepped with some fresh pads and high temp brake fluid and get to Bowling Green in September! Click here for more information on this event segment.
The NMRA Word Finals is the largest Ford drag race event of the year and Holley is upping the payouts for each championship class which will make this the largest payout in NMRA competition of the year! As always, a host of Championship drag race classes are available for the choosing at Ford Fest. Along with these there are a number of Shootout Eliminator classes available like the Hellion Turbo Battle, IDIDIT Performance King of the Street, Tremec Stick Shift Shootout, McLeod 10R80 Throwdown, and the Mickey Thompson Terminator/GT500 Shootout for those who are looking to set specific records and garner bragging rights among their blue oval brethren!
Check out the list of classes offered below.
- Street Outlaw (SO)
- Renegade (REN)
- Modified Street (MS)
- Limited Street (LS)
- Coyote Stock (CS)
- Factory Stock (FS)
- Open Comp (OC)
- Super Stang (SST)
- Modular Muscle (MM)
- Truck & Lightning (TL)
- Ford Muscle (FM)
- True Street (TS)
First, second, and third place awards will be given to those who lay down the highest numbers in both power adder and non-power adder categories. Big numbers are cool, but it will be interesting to see how that power translates into performance in the other aspects of Holley’s Ford Festival!
The relaxed nature of the countryside cruise offers a welcome break from the competition on the track and gives all competitors an opportunity to socialize and take in the beautiful winding back roads of Kentucky. The cruise also allows competitors to involve their families in the event and show off the highway manners of their ride.
A digital scavenger hunt is a great way to add a challenge to the enjoyment of the countryside cruise for many participants. The digital scavenger hunt consists of a map and a list of check off items that must be photographed as the driver and the driver’s ride-along photographer traverse the pre-planned route. Participants that find all of the items and have the pictures to prove it will be entered into a drawing to win a $500 Holley brands product certificate. Check out all of our brands at holley.com.
Looking to score some parts for your project Ford car or truck? Look no further than the Ford Festival Swap Meet. It’s the perfect place to search for parts if you’re looking to save a little coin or source that hard-to-find part. If you’re interested in cleaning out your garage full of Ford parts, click hereto learn how to become a swap meet vendor.
All these event segments and more will take over Beech Bend Raceway during Ford Festival. Head on over to fordfest.comto register and to find out more information, or check out the Event FB pageto stay up to date with news as it unfolds. For those that want to post what they’re bringing on social media, the official event hashtags are #NMRA.
Rick Seitz is the owner and founder of AutoCentric Media, the parent company to Timeless Muscle Magazine, and has a true love and passion for all vehicles. When he isn’t tuning, testing, or competing with the magazine’s current crop of project vehicles, he’s busy tinkering and planning the next round modifications for his own cars.
