The search for the 2010 OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car continues through exciting race events around the country, all leading to the annual post-SEMA event in Pahrump, Nevada. The competitions remain fun yet fierce as OPTIMA enters the second half of its series of action-packed regional qualifying events. The mission is to search the nation for the most unique performance vehicles among a variety of automotive segments, manufacture makes and model years.
In early May, the first-ever OPTIMA Street Car Faceoff was held at the historic Road America race track in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
“Our goal with the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational is to find the best of the best vehicles and put them to the test,” says Cam Douglass, director of product development and marketing for OPTIMA Batteries. “It’s been fun to see the industry get involved and we appreciate the support of all participants, sponsors and partner events.”
For the first time this year, OPTIMA worked with several, existing regional race events to offer top contenders an opportunity to win a spot in the 2010 Invitational. The Midwest Muscle Car Challenge (MMC) was one of those events, occurring in May within areas of Indiana and Illinois. After a weekend of tough competition, Brad Coomer was added to the list of 2010 OPTIMA Invitational challengers. Coomer drove the Gateway Classic Mustang's 68 Mustang which was also a competitor at last year's OPTIMA Invitational.
The 2010 Motor State Challenge was held on June 18-20 in Michigan, bringing together more than 90 participants. A scoring system was used for all activities during the weekend, and Mark Stielow and his 1969 Camaro emerged victorious.
While these regional qualifying events help identify top contenders for the Invitational following the 2010 SEMA Show, a few invitations are being held to potentially be awarded during the 2010 SEMA Show. A committee made up of OPTIMA and industry representatives will walk the SEMA Show floor in Las Vegas, looking for the best of the best, across all vehicle segments. The final phases of the search will be promoted during the Show and will benefit the many vehicle teams who work on project builds right up to the final hours before the start of the show. All final participants will be announced at the OPTIMA Batteries press conference during the week of the SEMA Show.
Four OPTIMA Invitational regional qualifying events remain before the Ultimate Street Car Invitational on November 6, 2010 in Nevada. The next event is the 2010 Holley LS Fest, scheduled for September 10-12, 2010, at Beech Bend Raceway Park, Holley’s hometown racetrack in Bowling Green, KY. On September 16-19, the Silver State Classic Challenge will take place in Nevada and the sixth annual Run Through the Hills event will also occur that weekend in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee on September 17-19, 2010. The final regional qualifier event corresponds with the 18th Good Guys Lone Star Nationals on October 1-3 at the Texas Motor Speedway in Dallas, Texas. For the complete list of regional qualifiers and more information on the 2010 Invitational, check out: http://optimainvitational.com.