(Words by Jim McIlvaine, Photos by Kaleb Kelley) After two stops West of the Rocky Mountains at Sebring and NOLA Motorsports Park, OPTIMA’s Ultimate Street Car series, presented by AutoZone headed out to California and Weathertech Raceway at Laguna Seca. Since a competitor’s best two finishes count toward their season-long point totals, points battles really aren’t clear yet. The series won’t return West until late in the season, which means there could be a lot of uncertainty on both sides of the country until then.
Duke Langley’s ’02 Corvette had a flawless 400-point weekend, winning the Nine Lives Racing Lucky 7 Outlaw class. That moves him into a tie with Danny Weller’s ’19 Camaro for first place in the points chase. The question is whether those two will face off against each other or try to head East and grab more points at other events before the Las Vegas finale.
Brian Hobaugh’s ’73 Camaro took the top spot in the Speedtech GTV Class, but since that was his first event of the season, he sits back in sixth place in points, right behind defending class champion, Chris Smith, who also has one event under his belt this season. Sean Aldinger’s ’69 Camaro continues to lead the way for now, followed by Robert Britton’s ’65 Mustang.
Over in the No-Limit Engineering GTT Class for trucks, the Blazers of David Carroll and Hondo Miller made their season debut at Laguna Seca. Carroll came out on top and the two Blazers moved to the top of the standings. No trucks are registered to run at the end of May at Pittsburgh, which could create an opportunity for someone willing to make that trip.
One of the classes where a points battle is starting to emerge is the After Dark Speed GTS class, which now has eight cars that have run in at least two events. It’s no surprise that Bob Sobey’s ’13 Nissan GT-R, which has won the last three OUSCI titles, is leading the way with 992 points, followed by Brandon Hurst’s ’22 Tesla Model S and Tony Prutch’s ’21 Corvette. Sobey won the weekend, but Prutch picked up the OUSCI invitation, as the defending champion already had his invitation and Hurst grabbed his invitation at Sebring.
There were interesting developments in the GTL Class, where CB Ramey debuted his new ’68 Porsche 912 build. Ramey had already qualified for the OUSCI in a Corvette at NOLA, so his win at Laguna Seca now allows him to choose which vehicle he will bring. That gave the class invitation to Mike Rovere’s ’08 Corvette, which finished second to Ramey’s LS-swapped Porsche. Austin Barnes still sits atop the GTL Class points and will be hard to catch, but Ramey’s Porsche seems to be on a mission.
The Geaux Moto GTC Class brought out the biggest field of the year so far at Laguna Seca, with Jordan Filip’s ’03 Corolla emerging victorious. That moves him into third in the points chase, behind the two MX-5s campaigned by the de la Houssaye family. That GTC class is another that has some registration gaps at some upcoming events. There could be intent to run, but a bit of a cat and mouse game going on with competitors, as they wait to see if anyone else signs up or who else is in the field before they make a commitment.
The defending GT Class champion, Dave Schotz, made his season debut at Laguna Seca, as did his arch nemesis, Matt Ramirez. Schotz’s ’22 Camaro came out on top of Ramirez’s ’04 Mustang in a tightly contested battle, but James Thomas’ ’16 Shelby GT350 still tops the standings with two events on the books. One car to keep an eye on in that class is the ’18 Camaro of Bryan Reilly. Reilly is based out of Utah, but has opted to run East Coast events this season, winning at NOLA and preparing for runs at Pittsburgh and Summit Point. With Schotz and Ramirez likely to stay out West, that could put Reilly in a spoiler position of being able to grab enough points to overtake those top contenders. However, Ramirez and Schotz will put up big numbers wherever they run, so Reilly will need to step up his game at Pittsburgh and Summit Point, if he wants to get around those two.
The series resumes at the end of May in Pittsburgh for the first of three consecutive East coast events, before finally returning to Thunderhill in early-October. That may give us a clearer picture of who the top contenders are in each class, but the East coast competitors will have one last shot at Barber Motorsports Park, just a few weeks before the SEMA Show and OUSCI. Head over to www.DriveOPTIMA.com where you can see the full schedule and plans to see these incredible street cars in person!
Top Ten Overall
1. Bob Sobey 2013 Nissan GTR GTS 497 points
2. Dave Schotz 2022 Chevrolet Camaro GT 494 points
3. Matt Ramirez 2004 Ford Mustang GT 490 points
4. Brian Hobaugh 1973 Chevrolet Camaro GTV 480 points
5. CB Ramey 1968 Porsche 912 GTL 472 points
6. Brandon Hurst 2022 Tesla Model S GTS 470 points
7. Mike Rovere 2008 Chevrolet Corvette GTL 467 points
8. Nick Relampagos 1970 Chevrolet Camaro GTV 466 points
9. Efrain Diaz 1969 Chevrolet Camaro GTV 450 points
10. Tony Prutch 2021 Chevrolet Corvette GTS 449 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- Hayley Weller 2023 Chevrolet Corvette
Anderson Composites Competitor’s Choice Award- CB Ramey 1968 Porsche 912
Operational Speed Supply Most-Improved Driver- Tony Phillips 2020 Subaru BRZ
Get in the Zone with AutoZone: Giovanni Acosta 2020 Ford Mustang