(Words by Jim McIlvaine, Photos by Kaleb Kelley) With the exception of the Summit Racing Spirit of the Event award, there are generally two ways to earn an invitation to the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational (OUSCI). One way is to win a class at one of the qualifying events. The other is to earn enough points at your best two events (out of eight), in order to “point your way” into a trip to the SEMA Show and the OUSCI.
Challenges exist throughout the season, which makes it a tough task for everyone who is good enough to earn one of those coveted spots. In the 2025 season, the first event of the year was held in Sebring, Florida, which is a fairly long haul from the Florida panhandle, let alone anywhere else outside the Sunshine State. It was also earlier in the year, when not everyone has their cars put together and ready to run.
The second event of the season took competitors closer to the central section of the country at NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale, Louisiana, but still at the very Southern end of things and still relatively-early in the year, taking place at the end of March. At some point, excuses need to be set aside and cars just need to get out and run. Competitors who found a way to do that early in the season have been rewarded with class wins, invitations to Las Vegas and at least a head start in the season-long points chase.
That was certainly the case in New Orleans, where some competitors made the most of their opportunities. At the top of that list is Tyler Hawker, who earned an invitation to Las Vegas, just for completing the weekend in his ’20 Colorado, which earned him the No-Limit Engineering GTT Class entry from NOLA. Danny Weller’s ’19 ZL1 Camaro saw similar success in the Nine Lives Racing Lucky 7 Outlaw Class.
Weller only had to face off against Mark Hill’s ’67 Cougar, which wasn’t running at the top of its game and managed to grab a coveted “perfect” weekend score of 400 points. That point total will be much harder to replicate at every other qualifying event as the season goes on, giving Weller a great start in the defense of his 2024 regular season class championship.
Over in the Speedtech GTV Class, Sean Aldinger’s ’69 Camaro found the podium for the first time at the season-opener and repeated that feat in New Orleans. Those two runs have placed his F-Body at the top of the class standings, which isn’t too bad for a car that finished outside the top-10 in the points chase last season. There is a similar story in the After Dark Speed GTS Class, where Aimel Baron’s ’19 Corvette currently leads the points chase.
Baron ran well in the first two events, but he’s also squaring off against the three-time defending OUSCI champion, Bob Sobey and his 2013 Nissan GT-R, as well as several high-scoring Teslas. Baron may not be able to maintain the top position as the season rolls on, but he has already secured his Vegas invitation at Sebring and would’ve likely already earned enough points to get there otherwise. Former OUSCI champion, CB Ramey is hedging his bets, qualifying his C8 Corvette at NOLA, in case he can’t get his LS-swapped Porsche finished in time to run at a qualifier.
The car that might be on the most minds in the series is Austin Barnes’ ’03 Corvette running in the GTL Class. In just the first two events, Barnes has already positioned himself as the favorite to win the GTL Class championship, the overall series regular season championship and put an end to Bob Sobey’s OUSCI streak. Jake Rozelle previously-won the OUSCI title in this Corvette, the Barnes team has improved on that winning platform and Austin has the talent behind the wheel to put the car in the winner’s circle in every driving segment.
The Geaux Moto GTC Class probably had the most interesting finish on the weekend at NOLA. Dayton de la Houssaye’s Ford-swapped MX-5 easily won the class, but de le Houssaye declined the Vegas invitation, as did the two runner-ups. That gave the invitation to Jill Garvin’s ’72 Datsun 510. The de la Houssayes and Kameron Newman still have plenty of opportunities to earn points or invitations at subsequent events, but NOLA is their home track and the next-closest venue is nearly 400 miles away.
The qualifier at Barber Motorsports Park is also the last of the regular season and just a few weeks before everyone is due to arrive in Las Vegas. That doesn’t leave any cushion if there’s a mechanical issue on track and very little time to remedy any issues that might come up during that weekend. To avoid those crunches, the de la Houssayes and Newman would have to look at the other qualifiers, which are all 1,000+ miles from New Orleans.
Finally, we take a look at the GT Class for late-model Camaros and Mustangs (and Challengers and such, when they show up). Dave Schotz’s Camaro has set the bar very high in this class, which usually forces other competitors to respond in like fashion. One who has stepped up in 2025 is Bryan Reilly, who easily won the class at NOLA in his ’18 Camaro. Reilly is based in Utah, but has opted to run at New Orleans, Pittsburgh International Race Complex and Summit Point Motorsports Park.
There are certainly closer venues for Reilly, but it appears he is playing the numbers game and feels those events give him the best chance to maximize his point totals on the season. His 483-point weekend in New Orleans was 20 points higher than his best performance last season, so he may be onto something. You can see a massive photo gallery of this event below, but if this series comes anywhere near you, we’d highly suggest you check these cars out in person. You’ll have a hard time finding any group of cars that are built to a higher show standard, that can also hang with just about anyone on a racetrack! Head over to www.driveoptima.com to see the upcoming dates and locations.
Top Ten Overall
1. Austin Barnes 2003 Chevrolet Corvette GTL 497 points
2. Bryan Reilly 2018 Chevrolet Camaro GT 483 points
3. Dayton de la Houssaye 2017 Mazda MX-5 GTC 470 points
4. CB Ramey 2024 Chevrolet Corvette GTS 466 points
5. James Thomas 2016 Ford Mustang GT 458 points
6. Wayne Atkins 1985 Chevrolet Camaro GTV 456 points
7. Koda Atwood 2022 Tesla Model 3 GTS 454 points
8. Jonathan Myers 2009 Chevrolet Corvette GTL 454 points
9. Thomas Marquez 2015 Subaru Impreza GTS 452 points
10. Sean Aldinger 1969 Chevrolet Camaro GTV 451 points
2025 OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Schedule
February 21-23rd Sebring Raceway
March 28-30th NOLA Motorsports Park
May 2-4th Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca
May 30-June 1st Pittsburg International Race Complex
June 27-29th Road America
August 15-17th Summit Motorsports Park
October 10-12th Thunderhill Raceway Park
October 17-19th Barber Motorsports Park
November 2-7th OUSCI Las Vegas
QA1 First Timer Award- Jonathan Myers 2009 Chevrolet Corvette
Summit Racing Spirit of the Event Invitee: Stephen Lucas 2011 Chevrolet Corvette
Anderson Composites Competitor’s Choice Award- Jill Garvin 1972 Datsun 510
Operational Speed Supply Most-Improved Driver- Vance Lucas 2020 Chevrolet Corvette