I consider myself a big fan of road trips. You, your car, your music or podcasts, and the road ahead. What’s up ahead? Hopefully something good, or fun, or interesting. Between here and there are so many things you can stop and see that some think those are more important than the destination. Want to stop at Volvo Island? Go see the surprisingly cheeky Mothman statue? How about a giant telephone near Ken Block’s favorite rally stage? The adventure is yours to see and make your own.
One of my annual road trips is from my place (just outside of the EPA’s exclusion zone in the Detroit metro area that used to be David Tracy’s little Troy shack), down to Corvetteville, Kentucky (AKA Bowling Green) for LS Fest, where the nation’s many third-generation and beyond GM small-block V8-powered machines gather for drag racing, drifting, autocross, burnouts, and more. It has become an annual trip since my Dad and I began going in 2022. At the time, I had recently bought my Caprice PPV, and he had been enjoying his second-generation Cadillac CTS-V, two cars united by LS power. I meet him at Louisville Airport, where he flies in from SoCal, and we finish the drive, usually after a night in Louisville. Every year we take home lessons learned, and the lesson from last year would fold neatly into part of the work I did in my previous story.
The show at Beach Bend Raceway Park is massive. It stretches from the big end of the drag strip all the way into the amusement park. And yes, there is an amusement park. They do rides on the wooden roller coaster during the show!
From the vendor midway to autocross and drifting in the central arena, off-road racing a short shuttle ride away, drag racing on the quarter mile, and cars for the car show everywhere they can fit them, LS Fest Kentucky has a broad array of things to see – and that is far too much to push into a single day, as my Dad and I had done years prior.
Unfortunately, going multiple days as a spectator meant costs would quickly balloon. Solution? Enter my Caprice PPV into the car show section. Three days admission, one guest, and parking inside the gate. Is it significantly cheaper? Kind of. Do I get a windshield banner, a shorter walk to the rest of the show, and people coming by to talk Car? Yes!
Thus that was the plan, and I was to pick my Dad up Thursday the tenth, drive down to Bowling Green, and then be there early enough on Friday the eleventh to register, set up our spot, and enjoy the show.
But first, the usual things you do after taking massive amounts of your critical suspension components apart: test drive, wheel alignment, ignore the problems because you don’t have the time to fix them, and then make a packing list for what tools will be sufficient to ward off maladies. The test drive went well enough, though I noticed a very slight brake fluid leak on the left rear wheel.
This is an issue because that stuff is kind of necessary for stopping. Thankfully, an eighth more of a turn on the bleeder stopped it, which is notable because that was the bleeder that arrived broken off. I also noticed a wheel bearing noise. This was frustrating because I had removed both wheel bearings to install longer wheel studs. Why longer studs? Because racecar. But off the car, the wheel bearings felt fine. Not great, but fine. And like I mentioned in that prior part, both were off fairly low-mileage Camaros. Why would they already be bad? That would be absurd, wheel bearings can’t go bad in only 40,000 miles!
Yeah, both the new-to-me Camaro bearings were bad. At the time, I only noticed one, though. I performed the swerve test, and prior to the wheel alignment, it got louder when I swerved right, indicating the left rear wheel bearing. There was also the tiniest hint of play when I elevated the wheel and tried to shake it. But following the wheel alignment, the noise somehow moved to when I was turning left. I don’t know enough about suspension loading and all that to explain it, but suffice it to say, I replaced the right rear wheel bearing the weekend after the show, which did not solve the problem, and then I went and bought a “Cars Are Pain” banner for the garage. Because that’s how it goes sometimes … Don’t ask me why I forgot about the play in the left rear, that was a thousand miles prior, which I will cover shortly.
Anyway, the wheel alignment went well enough. They used the specs for the Caprice PPV, which was fine because none of the alignment points changed, and it’s mostly all the same anyway. I did melt the brain of the guy at the counter when explaining what was really going on back there, which is not a great sign if I ever end up taking it to a shop for work. But based on my history, I think there’s little fear of that. Though the right rear alignment was out more than a degree and, I quote, “We deal in hundredths of a degree, so… Wow.” Powerful words.
The other thing of note here is the front-end toe prior to the alignment. I did that myself using toe plates and tape measures the night prior to taking off for Iowa for Christmas, so I’m rather impressed with myself. Yeah, there was less toe out than the spec wants, but given that I was going for near zero and wanted to see what that would feel like in the steering, I am more than satisfied. And as soon as I am ready, I can grab the toe plates out again and revert back to my prior measurements. It should be said that toe out will be more controllable at the cost of steering response, which when my logical brain takes back over (it happens from time to time) and says is probably proper for my use case. And the thousand miles we were about to embark upon!
With wheel alignment performed and (at the time) the wheel bearing making unhappy noises, I resolved to then ignore the bearing noises. Remember kids, what you do know can hurt you, which is why we turn the music up louder and wince quietly whenever we turn left. With that off the list, all that was left was packing. I usually take a nominal amount of tools, and have a cheapo tool kit in the trunk anyway, but I brought a few extra tools “just in case.” I was hoping to not use them, as I am sure anybody that brings tools on a journey does, but I am also a person whose luck is basically, “What is the funniest but also least convenient way to mess with him?” Not content to let the universe strand me with an ultimately solvable but inconvenient issue, I stocked up and threw everything in a milk crate in the back of the car. I even brought a spare left rear brake caliper, just in case that leak decided to return. And at this point I think the second I return it, the leak will start again. Such is the black magic of cars at times.
Not tool-related, but my Dad also bought us a canopy tent. It’s just big enough to fit in the garage and also gives me bad ideas for setting up a paint booth in the garage in the cold months, because we like things that have multiple uses.
What’s about as convenient as having a nice shade from the sun? The bag fitting perfectly in the Caprice’s trunk. Canopy, chairs, tools, and the other unimportant stuff like toothbrushes and pants were all packed away neatly, and the Caprice was ready to hit the road south!
Immediately I noticed the sharpness of the new Kumhos. The Ecsta Sport A/S tires that were just installed had such instant response, yet they never felt darty. I could cruise down the highway at Strictly Legal Speeds with one hand on the wheel, chilling, but they would be nice and sharp a few degrees off center. If I reduce the toe-out on the car, these would be a lot sharper, and make the car feel a lot sportier. Road noise was well-controlled, with mainly the sharp impacts in the road making themselves known. Similar too was the ride; the tires handled most imperfections and sharp bumps well, potentially better than other tires I’ve used to date. Even though they are nineteen-inch wheels, I am not suffering the same ride quality as the other nineteens. Bigger bumps are seen and heard more than felt. Great news for someone living in Michigan, a state famous for the quality of its roads (or was that infamous?). I even feel the rear of the car being a bit more playful with the Kumhos, though having a 245 square setup on a RWD car may contribute to that. My time in conditions such as rain, even since the road trip, has been minimal, but nothing indicates they would be bad, and of course there was no snow in September in my locales, so I do not know what to expect there. But that is why I have dedicated winter tires. Thankfully, though, the Ecsta Sport A/S tires I got are all-season, so they can handle some colder temperatures and snow, letting the tire changeover be later in the season.
My route south took me down I-75 all the way through Detroit (past the newly built and very neat Gordie Howe Bridge), past the Toledo Jeep plant, the vast [static noise] of Ohio, and through the surprisingly pretty city of Cincinnati. Once I was into Kentucky and on I-71, the terrain started to gain hills and curves, which made it much more enjoyable as I continued south to Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport where my Dad was waiting. And then we continued down on I-65 to Bowling Green. When I set out for this trip, my odometer read 200,600 miles.
I will admit that this particular drive is not the most scenic, and when you have an ETA to meet, you tend to keep your head down and drive. For a 505-mile drive from start to finish, that would be one fill-up in the Caprice as long as you start with a full tank. When that tank starts full of E85 you don’t quite go as far, but you still manage the drive in one tank.
Stop one was a rest stop in Ohio, and my first real chance to take in the glory of my car in the sunlight after a few hours of driving. It was tracking straight, any concerning sounds were known, and the music was good. Around this time I switched to podcasts. I really only listen when I drive, and it is mostly car stuff. Very Vehicular, Carbage Time (of course), Hot Rod Pod, and The Smoking Tire are common listens as I go down the road, but a favorite is The Dork-O-Motive Podcast with noted tractor enthusiast Brian Lohnes (he also has a side gig announcing for NHRA). Seriously, give it a try, he covers everything from acetylene car lighting, unique Indy 500 entrants, WWI Q-Ships, all the way to the Red Ball Express and the Gimli Glider.
As far as my setup in the car for road trips, it is specific, but simple. I usually have a cheapo screen in a CD tray mount with Android Auto displaying my current audio and my navigation – the Caprice is too old for such things without a spendy aftermarket upgrade. I find Android Auto a decent tool, but as those in the Discord will note, I can take it or leave it. And on this trip I had to leave it, as the screen crashed three times in six minutes, getting relegated to The Floor for safety and sanity. The phone was mounted to an AC vent mount with some tape protecting the dashboard under the mount. This puts the device right in my line of sight, and in the path of the AC to keep it nice and cool.
I bring two travel mugs of coffee: one for when I set off first thing in the morning, and a second for the afternoon when energy starts to fade. Water is either in the door pocket or in a cooler accessible behind the passenger seat. Snacks are in a soft basket on the passenger seat or on the driveshaft hump, and covered with a black jacket to keep the sun and prying eyes off of them. I also have a couple of balls I use to stretch my muscles at rest stops. I have chronic issues with my neck and shoulders, so any comfort I can get when getting beat up by the road is welcome.
I paused the podcasts when my Dad got in the car and we chatted. We talk weekly, but I hadn’t seen him since May when we were, unfortunately, brought together for his mother’s (my grandma’s) funeral. It’s been quite a year for us, and we both look forward to some time together to talk cars. And, as it happens, life. But right now, just off the plane, we chatted about the F1 movie he had seen recently, a bit about NASCAR, and of course it transitioned to drag racing. This annual tradition started when we attended Day 5 of Hot Rod Drag Week 2021 as spectators at US-131 north of Kalamazoo. We saw cars running six-second passes, which blew us away. These days we text about it and watch the livestreams, and with Hot Rod Drag Week a couple of weeks after LS Fest, we chatted a bit about who may or may not be there for 2026.
We arrived at the same Airbnb we had been to a couple of years ago, and were immediately back to familiarity. After grabbing some amazing sandwiches after the LS Fest Cruise-In, we settled down and watched car shows on the Chromecast that I had brought with me. There’s little better than settling in with your Dad, putting on some car shows, and having some great food. We like our shows of the MotorTrend variety, but some YouTubers can grab our attention as well. That night included some Ford vs. Ferrari, as my Dad had not yet seen it, and the topic of racing was on our minds thanks to the F1 film (which I still have not seen).
The next day arrived, and so too did the Caprice at LS Fest. If you attend a show or event for several years, it is strange to be driving a car through the middle of it as something of a participant. For one, it’s a little overwhelming–with no direction on where/how to park, I just followed the cars ahead of me while also trying to keep well away from pedestrians in the road. For two, the attention you’re already getting just rolling in is like you went from traffic outside the gate, to Being Known inside the gate. The Caprice PPV is not a secret at LS Fest, and mine was not the only one there, but seeing people looking at my car knowingly was both intimidating and fun.
We ended up on the grassy knoll next to the gate where people enter and exit once they are registered. If you reference the map earlier in the article, this is the south-west corner of the blue ‘Car Show’ parking area. The back of the Caprice was facing the hilly grass parking lot (coincidentally, where we had parked a couple times in prior years), and as far as a show with loud cars and big, choppy cams go, it was rather nice and quiet. Once the canopy was set up, it made for a nice base camp for getting out of the sun, grabbing a bite, and resting our legs.
Yet as soon as we set up the canopy, I was approached and asked about the GS wheels. They received much positive feedback, and when we brought up the brakes, they were impressed that I went as far as Camaro knuckles in the rear instead of just the Brembo calipers and SS rotors that most would do (and likely did). But for me, the brakes were secondary to the primary objective of parts support and ease of wrenching. It was fun having a Camaro next to me sporting the exact same brakes so we could compare without going too far. Also fun was watching the traffic go by and waving to the shuttle as people went to the off-road course.
Throughout the two days we were there, we took a few laps of the show, enjoying the cars that people brought or were at the vendor booths. Some highlights include the $2,000 Challenge Mazda5, a daily-drivable B-body Buick LaSabre, a gosh darn Packard, and an incredible turbo LS4 swapped MR2.
While out and about, we took plenty of time to enjoy the racing. The sun was hot, but the shade in the stands was good, and the cars were both quick and fast. Some of the most impressive ones were the truck and SUV class vehicles. They were only running in the eighth-mile, but were probably some of the quickest vehicles on the property. Do not underestimate a squarebody S10 that can’t idle properly. It will leave you in the dust.
Back at the Caprice base camp, Dad and I enjoyed some time cooling off under our canopy, having some Casey’s King’s Hawaiian sandwiches (highly recommended while road-tripping or while at a show like this), and just chatting. We talked about cars, we talked about the event, but most importantly, we talked about life. My Dad is a man who has lived a lot of life in his short time here. He has also worked hard ever since he could earn a dollar and is approaching a retirement that is well-deserved.
We don’t quite know where he will land, but he wants a shop where we can work on cars and do some of those projects we talk about. Enough space for all the dogs he keeps finding and rescuing. And some way to give back to the community, as he is always looking for a way to give back and make people’s lives better. He also told stories about his past he had not before, but make me all the more grateful he is with me today.
We spent two good days at Beach Bend Raceway Park enjoying all the cars worshipping at the Church of LS, whether stationary, going fast in a straight line, going fast around corners, or going around corners sideways. But at night we would settle into the couch with our dinner, put on a car show or movie (Rush for night two, which my Dad was delighted to learn was based on a true story), and just enjoyed being together. Which does not happen often enough.
As I drove away from Louisville Airport after dropping him off and I headed back north to Michigan, I could only think of how much I wanted to continue doing this with him. And how blessed I am to be in such a position. I do not take this for granted at all–a text to my Dad on my drive home said that enough: “It’s pretty rare that fathers and sons get to do this together.”
And maybe that’s the point of all of this. All the hard work on the Caprice, while unnecessary, stoked conversation and made it more fun. The wheel bearings making noise did nothing to lessen my time with my Dad, and the ABS not working was just a funny note every time I started up the car. The road trip was never about the destination or how perfect the car was or wasn’t. It was about being there and enjoying a common interest with one of the most important people in my life. And of all the years to take note of that, this one is really poignant. Losing Grandma, several family dogs, and my beloved cat of more than a decade all in just a few months has made it a trying time. But we are still together, and we can still have a great time when we get those chances, and build those fun memories together. Because once it’s all over, the memories will still be there.
The Caprice made it back home safe and sound, where it rested in the garage before a couple of weekends of fixing some wheel bearings. It was over 201k miles, which seems like quite a lot for a car living its second life after retiring from the highway patrol. There are still some squeaks and rattles that were not solved with all of my work, and which were noticeable over the weekend. But those will be a story for another day.
Top graphic images: Nick Hernandez
Great story. I hope to have such memories with my son someday when he’s grown. Thanks for sharing!