Cleetus McFarland and Leroy the bodyless Corvette wonder hit 168 miles per hour in the quarter mile in Vegas.
LS Fest West 2018 was held in early May and one of the cars in attendance to participate in the racing program was the bodyless Corvette named Leroy, driven by YouTuber Cleetus McFarland. This video chronicles the progress of Leroy and Cleetus on the third day of the festival of GM high performance, as they reach a new top speed in the quarter mile.
Leroy at LS Fest West
If you aren’t familiar with Leroy the Corvette or his owner, Cleetus McFarland, this is a C5 Corvette that was bought from a salvage yard after a wreck that was bad enough that the entire body was cut away. The YouTuber found that with a little work, he could make this bodyless Corvette drivable and, more importantly, very fast.
Since the day that Cleetus got Leroy, a 427-cubic inch LSX with a massive twin-turbo setup has been added, but it still doesn’t have a body. Fortunately, that lack of exterior panels doesn’t stop Leroy from being insanely fast, as the video above shows.
This footage was captured at LS Fest West, which took place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It was over 80 degrees for these runs at the track has an elevation of more than 2,400 feet, so conditions are less than ideal. That doesn’t stop Leroy from setting a new record.
Hitting the Track
On the first run, Cleetus forgets to turn on the intercooler pump, so the air entering Leroy’s turbocharged LSX isn’t as cool as it should be. However, on that first run with diminished power and all sorts of mid-track traction troubles, he still ran an 8.54 at 166 miles per hour. That was the fastest trap speed by Leroy and the second-quickest elapsed time, and with McFarland not being licensed to run that quick, he got the “one-run warning”. This means that another run of similar speed and he would be done for the day.
Some people would dial back the boost, but Cleetus decided to send it. On that first run, the no-lift-shift button under the clutch pedal broke, but after fixing it with duct tape and zip ties, Leroy was ready for more action.
On the second run, the Corvette spins a bit on launch, slowing down the short time, but the car pulls hard through the top end of the track. This led to an elapsed time of 8.5 and a trap speed of 168 miles per hour – setting a new record for the fastest trap speed by the bodyless, twin turbocharged Corvette.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
