The OPTIMA Faceoff at Road America & The Hot Rod Power Tour

[OptimaJim]

Now going into its fifth year, the OPTIMA® Ultimate Street Car Invitational, has evolved to become one of the most highly-anticipated and widely covered events in the automotive performance world. Each year, OPTIMA Batteries identifies several events that will serve as qualifiers to compete later this year in the 2012 OUSCI, which takes place annually in Nevada immediately following the SEMA Show.

Two qualifying events have already taken place, the Run to the Alamo and the Run to the Coast. However, there are still several more opportunitites to qualify and we're doing our best to find events in geographically diverse locations, to attract more entrants. The next two events are the OPTIMA® Faceoff at the HOT ROD Power Tour in Arlington, Texas on June 9th and the OPTIMA® Faceoff at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on June 22-24th.

You can find the entry form for the Faceoff at the HOT ROD Power Tour event here (http://optimainvitational.com/2012%20HRPT%20Entry%20Form.pdf) and the entry form for the Faceoff at Road America here. (http://optimainvitational.com/Entry%20Form-RA12_fnl.pdf)

Qualifying events are open to the public and offer a great way for automotive enthusiasts to preview the top talent that will move on to OPTIMA's Ultimate Street Car Invitational. Each regional qualifying event will follow a format similar to the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational with a combination of segments to include autocross; road course; braking and acceleration; style & design competition and road rally; and additional activities, which will vary per event. More than one vehicle will be selected for the OUSCI from each of the Faceoff events and OPTIMA encourages all street-legal vehicle year, makes and models to participate.

For more information on the qualifying events, the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational and ways to get involved as a participant volunteer or sponsor, please visit www.optimainvitational.com.

For those of you who cannot attend either of these qualifying events, please consider attending these OUSCI qualifiers-

•Motorstate Challenge (South Haven, MI): July 13-15
•The Sandhills Open Road Challenge (Hastings, NE) August 8-12
•LSFest (Bowling Green, KY): September 7-9
•Silver State Classic Challenge (Ely, NV): September 12-16
•Lingenfelter Performance Engineering Nationals (Norwalk, OH): September 21-23

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.twitter.com/optimabatteries

[tellyv]

I'm in hopefully the my t.a. will hold up!

[Ruslow]

Ok need a little more info.i went to the web site and it tells me about the different types of runs but no specifics.You have listed a braking event as well as an accel event but are they distance or timed and what is the accel to?IS it like the SSCC ran 0-100-0,type format?I figure you are using GPs style system to score the events.May show up at the arlington event and will most def be at the SSCC event.

And also you say the vehicle has to be in the sema show to compete for the title.but IF i qualify for the next stage how do I get into the show to do the final stage of the OUSCI?Car looks nice but not that quality.Stan

[camcojb]

Ok need a little more info.i went to the web site and it tells me about the different types of runs but no specifics.You have listed a braking event as well as an accel event but are they distance or timed and what is the accel to?IS it like the SSCC ran 0-100-0,type format?I figure you are using GPs style system to score the events.May show up at the arlington event and will most def be at the SSCC event.

And also you say the vehicle has to be in the sema show to compete for the title.but IF i qualify for the next stage how do I get into the show to do the final stage of the OUSCI?Car looks nice but not that quality.Stan
They have the road course, autocross, speed stop, and judging. The road course gives you three timed laps on the course, with an out lap and cool down lap. The laps start at the start/finish line on the front stretch, and is a flying start. The autocross also gives three timed laps, and after the finish line there is a section you have to stop in before hitting cones at the end. The speed stop challenge is the fastest time between two lines in a straight line, and again you must stop in a box (coned area). So you want to get from the start line to the finish as fast as possible, but you also have to account for stopping in a short area past the finish line without running over the cones at the end. Again, best of three tries.

All the invited cars also have a section at SEMA, outdoors the last couple years. Also, a few of the OUSCI cars may be in the buildings in the vendors booth; that would be arranged by the vendor and the competitor, but regardless, if you qualify for the race you'll have a spot to park outside with the rest of the cars.

[OptimaJim]

Jody pretty much covered the basics of the event (thank you). The only thing I would add for someone who hasn't done this type of event before would be that the Speed/Stop Challenge could be equated to an approximate 1/8th-mile drag race into a 40-foot box. Basically, get your car into the box and stopped as quickly as you can without going over.

In terms of appearance for the OUSCI & SEMA, what we're really trying to avoid are cars that are not quite finished yet- unpainted hoods, primer around wheel wells, etc... If the selection committee likes your vehicle, they'll invite you to the OUSCI. The requirement about being at SEMA lets everyone know that the commitment doesn't just involve showing up for the OUSCI, but having the car on display all week at SEMA.

The owner doesn't have to be there all week, but the driving force behind this event is promoting the industry, from the owners and builders to the companies behind them. Having all the participating vehicles at SEMA helps add visibility to the event and increases the exposure for everyone involved. As Jody mentioned, some OUSCI vehicles will be invited by companies to display their vehicle in a SEMA booth, like Mary Pozzi's Camaro at the Hotchkis booth, etc...

Optima secures both indoor booth space in the main hall and a car corral outside and between those two locations, we'll have plenty of space to showcase all the OUSCI vehicles. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.twitter.com/optimabatteries

[wiedemab]

More than one vehicle will be selected for the OUSCI from each of the Faceoff events and OPTIMA encourages all street-legal vehicle year, makes and models to participate.


Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.twitter.com/optimabatteries

Jim,

You use the word "selected". Can you elaborate on the selection process. In past years, my understanding was that it was based on how you finished in the event and if the winner already had an invite then you went down the line. I know there were "spirit of the event" invites etc. given also, but if I understood correctly - winning an event is what got someone and invite.

Thanks

[Ruslow]

that pretty much covers the ?? I had.my car is set up to run the SSCC and BBORR,if I can go, the car will show up set up to run the sustained speeds of ORR.I have talked to a few in the 'know' about this event and they have said i do not have enough brake or HP.But if I can atleast have a strong presense at the final tally I would be happy.The car looks closer to stock and the budget to complete the car is less than many spend on painting their ride.But mine will cruise comfortably at 160 with a top of 199-203 with the hp level.Stan

[OptimaJim]

Hey Brandon,

Thanks for the question! The “I” in OUSCI does stand for Invitational, so the selection committee will be making the final decision on which cars will be invited both to the Sandhills event and the OUSCI. While winning the event has resulted in invitations being extended in past years, that is not necessarily the case this year. Performance will obviously play a big role in who gets invited, but it is not the sole consideration.

There was some concern that in past years, people didn't even participate in the qualifying events, because they didn't think their vehicle stood a chance of being invited. That was one of the reasons why Spirit of the Event invites were extended in the past. The main purpose of all of these events is to have some fun, get some great exposure for everyone involved and showcase the enthusiasm and excellence people have put into their vehicles.

If you look at some of the vehicles invited to past events, you'll see we make a concerted effort to go well beyond typical musclecars. Last year alone, we had a PT Cruiser, Tahoe, Volvo sedan, a 280Z, a '52 Chevy coupe, and a Ranchero. We also picked Zeke Peterson's VW Bug & Joe Shown's C4 from the Sandhills event, even though neither of them were anywhere near the fastest in that field. We did think they represented the SORC racing community very well, what a “street car” embodies and the wide variety of folks who enjoy that type of racing.

We already have a Sunbeam Tiger in this year's field, but that's not to say that every oddball Renault LeCar or BMW Isetta that shows up is necessarily going to get an invite. We just don't want people to think they need an ABS-equipped '69 Camaro pumping out 700+ horsepower, just because that's what they see at the front of the pack. We know a lot of people prefer building Camaros and Firebirds and we pick a lot of really cool examples each year, but we also like seeing cars and trucks that surprise us for a variety of reasons. Does that help answer your question?

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.twitter.com/optimabatteries

[camcojb]

Hey Brandon,

Thanks for the question! The “I” in OUSCI does stand for Invitational, so the selection committee will be making the final decision on which cars will be invited both to the Sandhills event and the OUSCI. While winning the event has resulted in invitations being extended in past years, that is not necessarily the case this year. Performance will obviously play a big role in who gets invited, but it is not the sole consideration.

There was some concern that in past years, people didn't even participate in the qualifying events, because they didn't think their vehicle stood a chance of being invited. That was one of the reasons why Spirit of the Event invites were extended in the past. The main purpose of all of these events is to have some fun, get some great exposure for everyone involved and showcase the enthusiasm and excellence people have put into their vehicles.

If you look at some of the vehicles invited to past events, you'll see we make a concerted effort to go well beyond typical musclecars. Last year alone, we had a PT Cruiser, Tahoe, Volvo sedan, a 280Z, a '52 Chevy coupe, and a Ranchero. We also picked Zeke Peterson's VW Bug & Joe Shown's C4 from the Sandhills event, even though neither of them were anywhere near the fastest in that field. We did think they represented the SORC racing community very well, what a “street car” embodies and the wide variety of folks who enjoy that type of racing.

We already have a Sunbeam Tiger in this year's field, but that's not to say that every oddball Renault LeCar or BMW Isetta that shows up is necessarily going to get an invite. We just don't want people to think they need an ABS-equipped '69 Camaro pumping out 700+ horsepower, just because that's what they see at the front of the pack. We know a lot of people prefer building Camaros and Firebirds and we pick a lot of really cool examples each year, but we also like seeing cars and trucks that surprise us for a variety of reasons. Does that help answer your question?

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.twitter.com/optimabatteries
you've got a pm. :thumbsup:

[wiedemab]

Jim - thanks for the reply. I completely understand the Invitation aspects of the event and can appreciate that you want a somewhat diverse set of vehicles at the event.

I don't think I'll ever have anything cool enough or fast enough to warrant an invite - -maybe I'll just have to build something really weird!! Hah :)

[GrabberGT]

Hey Brandon,

We already have a Sunbeam Tiger in this year's field, but that's not to say that every oddball Renault LeCar or BMW Isetta that shows up is necessarily going to get an invite. We just don't want people to think they need an ABS-equipped '69 Camaro pumping out 700+ horsepower, just because that's what they see at the front of the pack. We know a lot of people prefer building Camaros and Firebirds and we pick a lot of really cool examples each year, but we also like seeing cars and trucks that surprise us for a variety of reasons. Does that help answer your question?

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.twitter.com/optimabatteries

I feel like he's talking directly to me. :willy:

Wish I could go. Its in my back yard. I've got a cool enough car. (at least I think so) I just dont have it in the budget this year.

[Stielow]

www.twitter.com/optimabatteries[/url]

Hey are you talking about me.....

At Road America are you running the full course of just half of the track?

Mark

[Van B]

Hey are you talking about me.....

At Road America are you running the full course of just half of the track?

Mark

Just the back half I am pretty sure.

[OptimaJim]

I'm glad so many of you feel like I'm speaking directly to you, because our intent is to have a lot of folks think their car or truck would be well-suited for these events. Brandon, if we invited a well-built '52 Chevy coupe to the OUSCI, I don't know why we wouldn't give consideration to a well-built '52 Chevy pickup. The list of pickups that have competed in the OUSCI grows every year.

Mark, I believe we are running the back half at RA. And your cars do set the bar incredibly high for first-gen Camaros, because some of the stuff that goes into them is years ahead of just about everyone else out there. Even if someone were able to produce a Camaro similar to one of Mark's, two other key components that have always given him an additional edge are the reliability of his cars and his driving ability.

In some ways, the cars Mark produces makes it harder for other Camaro owners, because they end up getting compared to Mark's car. Stephen Wetterau & Vinnie Allegretta's red '69 Camaros also made it into the field last year (as well as Brian Finch & Stacy Tucker's '69s), but for all those that did make it, many others did not. For those that missed the cut, if they had built a '72 Mercury Comet (or Maverick) instead, would things have turned out differently? Quite possibly.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.optimainvitational.com

[GrabberGT]

For those that missed the cut, if they had built a '72 Mercury Comet (or Maverick) instead, would things have turned out differently? Quite possibly.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.optimainvitational.com


Thats not right. You're taunting me now. :evil:

[OptimaJim]

Not taunting, but definitely encouraging!

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.optimainvitational.com

[Van B]

Jim,

What is hotel availability like with Nationwide and Grand Am in town?

[OptimaJim]

Probably not great in the immediate area, but still plenty of options. I just went on Expedia and they still had rooms available at the Americinn in Plymouth & The American Club in Kohler. We also have a fairly extensive list of lodging options available on the www.optimainvitational.com website- http://optimainvitational.com/OPTIMA%20Faceoff%20at%20Road%20America%20Lodging.p df

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.optimainvitational.com

[mike343sharpstk]

Last time this was at Road America one of my favorite cars to watch was an early 70’s Trans Am. It was not a super-trick build, rather a nicely balanced car and it worked very well. I believe that was invited to Vegas that year. The word ULTIMATE is a very subjective term, and when added to the term STREET CAR it gets even more so.

It was inspirational to see that you do not need to spend piles of money to have a great performing car. I have been improving my car to participate next time it was in my neighborhood but I’m going to come a bit short this year.

I was planning to run my Javelin, but real life is getting in the way, the nail in the coffin came when I was filling in the entry form. I came to the realization that my tires did not meet the treadwear requirements.:( It's hard to justify the expense of 4 new tires when I don't actually need them, LOL.

Jim, if you need any volunteers shoot me a PM, I’ll be there either way:cheers:

[MaxHarvard]

I'm rip roaring to go! :) :willy:

[732ndgen]

can i go saturday to watch the events.would that be a problem

[Van B]

You could come to West Bend Dyno but with Nationwide Series running, I'm sure you will need to buy a ticket to get in Road America.

[sik68]

Is there a good writeup on the Faceoff besides the Bangshift one?

http://bangshift.com/blog/ridetechs-...t-results.html

I have been looking but see no coverage... not even sure who the cars and participants are?

[Flash68]

Is there a good writeup on the Faceoff besides the Bangshift one?

http://bangshift.com/blog/ridetechs-...t-results.html

I have been looking but see no coverage... not even sure who the cars and participants are?

I was looking and only saw that as well.

[OptimaJim]

Here is a write-up on the Lingenfelter Performance Design Challenge. (http://www.optimabatteries.com/us/en/experience/power-source/karl-dunns-1968-camaro-wins-lingenfelter-performance-design/)

Here is a write-up on the BFGoodrich Hot Lap Challenge. (http://www.optimabatteries.com/us/en/experience/power-source/todd-rumpkes-2006-z06-wins-bfgoodrich-hot-lap-challenge-2013/)

I didn't get the results or images until the other day, so I'll keep cranking to get everything out there. Thanks for your patience!

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.pinterest.com/optimabatteries