went to the track, hoping to get a stock ls1 into the 12s before i do heads, cam, and a 75 or 150 shot. had fuel pump issues on the way up, but finally got there. fuel pump acted up when i got on the line first time, pulled off and gave it a couple minutes. everything seemed fine, and i ended up making 3 passes. on the last one, some smoke appeared in the car. let the car sit and looked around, but didnt see anything. tried to start the car again, but fuel pump was acting up.let it sit, and before they closed wanted to make 1 more pass. cranked the car( i usually have to manipulate the pedal a little, need to work on that tuning) and there was a loud pop(backfire?) and a lot of smoke shot from under the hood. valve cover gaskets were blown out, and smoke coming from valve cover pcv. came back with a trailer the next day, car starts up fine and seems to run fine, but a little smoke is coming from the tailpipes, and might be a little ticking from the motor. question#1---what was the backfire from, pumping the pedal, basically flooded the engine and that caused it? and was it related to possible engine trouble...
#2---what happened to the motor? will pull valve covers soon when i get the time. i didnt hear any bad noise on the last pass. did i bend a pushrod, or burn a valve or something? whats causing smoke to come from valvecovers?

 

I would compression test it