(Words by Jim McIlvaine, Photos by Kaleb Kelley) With four events in the books for OPTIMA’s Ultimate Street Car series, presented by AutoZone, we’ve reached the midway point of the season. However, three of those four events were held East of the Rocky Mountains and a competitor’s best two events count toward their season-long point total, so there’s still a lot left to be decided. That’s not going to stop us from taking a look at who is leading the points in each class and who might be contenders for each class championship.
Nine Lives Racing Lucky 7 Outlaw Class
These cars are not eligible for the OUSCI title, but seven of them will be invited to Las Vegas to compete for the class cup. After the first four events, Justin Peachey’s ’07 Corvette is the only car that has run at least two events, so he leads the points with 795 out of 800. However, Danny Weller’s ’19 Camaro and Duke Langley’s ’02 Corvette have both turned in “perfect” 400-point weekends and either one is poised to take over the lead with a second strong weekend.
We’d also have to say the ’22 Porsche GT3 driven by David Marcus and the ’24 Tesla Model 3 driven by Jon Bickford need to be included in that mix. Both beat Peachey at the season opener in Sebring and could be in contention with another solid weekend. We would also add Frankie Trutanic’s ’17 Corvette and Ron Merlino’s LS-swapped ’04 Nissan 350Z to the list of contenders, as they both have one event in the books with as many or more points than Peachey’s second-best weekend. Truth be told, Jeff Gordon’s ’07 Cobalt SS and Lane Farka’s ’24 BMW M2 are both well within striking distance, so we’d call this class wide open for now.
Speedtech GTV Class
The list of championship contenders in the Speedtech GTV Class for vintage entries is a bit shorter, in part, because defending class champion, Chris Smith’s ’70 Camaro has been so dominant. After his first two events, Smitty holds a nearly 40-point lead over his son, Jason, who sits in second place. The only other GTV cars to score 470 or more this season are Wayne Atkins’ ’85 Camaro and Brian Hobaugh’s ’73 Camaro, although Ron Scott’s ’72 Corvette wasn’t too far off and could improve as that new combination is dialed in.
If anyone can catch Chris Smith, it will take a Herculean effort. As an example, Brian Hobaugh would need to post a series record-tying 498 to catch Smith with the 480 he already has on the board. There are certainly other cars in the GTV Class with more potential, but given Smitty’s first two events, they’ll all need to post two exceptional performances in the second half of the season.
No-Limit Engineering GTT Class
As we look to the No-Limit Engineering GTT Class for trucks and SUVs, we see a more wide-open affair, similar to the Outlaw Class. Series veteran, Tyler Hawker, currently leads the points chase in his ’20 Colorado, but he knows that is by virtue of being the only truck to run two events so far. In terms of best performances so far, Hawker’s best weekend (372 points) is more than 30 points off from seven other trucks, so his stay at the top may be short-lived.
David Carroll’s ’74 Blazer missed the regular season championship last year by just three points to Stephen Dorrick’s now-retired ’05 LS-swapped Nissan Frontier. To add insult to injury, Hondo Miller’s ’70 Blazer upset Carroll for the class cup in Las Vegas by just a single point! Carroll beat Miller by 10 points at Laguna Seca, but he’s not the only contender to take the class championship. Rick Hoback and Mike McCarthy are both campaigning LS-swapped Nissans out of Dorrick’s stables this season and some vintage entries from Fran Marchand and Chris Allen have already turned in solid performances this year.
Geaux Moto GTC Class
The Geaux Moto GTC Class has not yet had a competitor run in two events this season. That means Dayton de la Houssaye’s stout 470-point weekend on his home track of NOLA puts his ’17 Mazda MX-5 in the lead for now. Dayton turned down his OUSCI invitation at that event, as did his father, Troy and teammate, Kameron Newman. That means all three will need to run again, in order to secure an entry to Las Vegas, either through a class win or points total. At this point, both de la Houssaye’s have a sizable lead over the rest of the GTC field for the regular season championship, should they choose to run again in the second half of the season.
GTS Class
Bob Sobey’s ’13 Nissan GT-R has reigned supreme in the GTS class for the last four seasons and shows no signs of letting up. There have only been four instances this season, where any car in the entire series has scored 495 or more points at an event and three of those are Sobey. The math is still there for someone else to catch him and beat him in the final four regular season events, but it’s going to take something special to do it.
Short of that, the GTS Class will be a race for second place, where Brandon Hurst’s ’22 Tesla Model S currently sits 25 points ahead of Tony Prutch’s ’21 Corvette.
GTL Class
There may not be any contenders to de-throne Bob Sobey’s GT-R in the GTS Class, but there are definitely some contenders in the GTL Class, who are looking to end his OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational (OUSCI) streak at three. Austin Barnes would be at the top of that list, driving the ’03 Corvette that Jake Rozelle ran to the OUSCI title back in 2021, which was the last time Sobey didn’t win. Barnes has run twice this season and posted above 490 points on both outings.
Another contender to keep an eye on is the 2020 OUSCI champion, CB Ramey. Ramey’s OUSCI-winning C4 Corvette was destroyed while on a trailer just prior to mounting his title defense and it’s been a long road back to championship form for Ramey. CB’s latest ride is an LS-swapped ’68 Porsche 912 that was purpose-built to compete in this series.
Ramey brought the Porsche out to Laguna Seca, where it won the GTL Class on that weekend, but it was clear he was still dialing things in and more potential exists than his 472-point total would suggest.
GT Class
Finally, we look at the GT Class, where Brian Reilly’s ’18 Camaro has jumped out to what looks like a commanding lead in the class for late model muscle cars. However, there are at least two serious contenders lurking in the shadows, just inside the top-ten in points. Dave Schotz’s ’22 Camaro and Matt Ramirez’s ’04 Mustang are both West coast based, so they have only run at Laguna Seca so far, but on that weekend, both posted scores in the 490s.
Jake Jackson’s ’18 Camaro saw a 20-point improvement from Sebring to Pittsburgh and another similar advance at his next event could catapult him into contention as well. The second half of the season begins at Road America on the last weekend in June. If you are near any of the tracks where this series runs, do be sure to check out these amazing cars and incredible drivers in person! Get all the details on this series at www.DriveOPTIMA.com
Top Ten Overall at Pittsburgh
1. Bob Sobey 2013 Nissan GTR GTS 495 points
2. Chris Smith 1970 Chevrolet Camaro GTV 494 points
3. Bryan Reilly 2018 Chevrolet Camaro GT 491 points
4. Wayne Atkins 1985 Chevrolet Camaro GTV 476 points
5. Jake Jackson 2018 Chevrolet Camaro GT 474 points
6. Jason Smith 1987 Chevrolet Camaro GTV 470 points
7. James Thomas 2016 Ford Mustang GT 465 points
8. Tom Farrington 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle GTV 458 points
9. Robbie Roe 2004 Chevrolet Corvette GTL 455 points
10. Tony Prutch 2021 Chevrolet Corvette GTS 453 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- Brian Wick 1997 Chevrolet Corvette
Anderson Composites Competitor’s Choice Award- Mike Owen 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle
Operational Speed Supply Most-Improved Driver- Koda Atwood 2016 Mazda MX-5
Summit Racing Spirit of the Event Invitation: Jayde Baron 2014 Chevrolet Camaro