(Words by Jim McIlvaine, Photos by Kaleb Kelley) OPTIMA’s Ultimate Street Car series, presented by AutoZone, requires competitors to run in at least two events to accumulate points toward a championship. That keeps a checkbook racer from dominating by outspending their competition but also requires consistency and commitment from everyone else. The events are spread all over the country, so if you want to wrap up a championship and not put on a lot of miles, you need to do it in the events closest to your home.
For West coast competitors in the 2025 season, that means running well at both Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca and Thunderhill. Fall short at either one of those events and the next-closest track is probably Road America or New Orleans, but both of those are run before Thunderhill. If Thunderhill doesn’t work out, the last chance event is at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama and it’s the following weekend!
With those logistics in play, we’ll take a look at how things went at Thunderhill and see who, if anyone may be in contention for a championship run the following weekend, starting with the Nine Lives Racing Lucky 7 Outlaw Class. Duke Langley won the class at Thunderhill and moved into the top spot with 799 points, which means he left the door open for Justin Peachey and Danny Weller, if either decides to make a run to Barber. Weller has done it in the past and took home the championship as a result, but it doesn’t seem like either is likely to do so this season.
In the Speedtech GTV Class, Chris Smith’s ’70 Camaro holds a 39-point lead over his son, Jason. However, the math shows the younger Smith needs more than 500 points in the final event to catch his father. Does anyone else have a shot? Only past OUSCI champion, Brian Hobaugh, who posted a 480-point weekend in his ’73 Camaro at Laguna Seca. Hobaugh ran his ’03 Corvette at Thunderhill and didn’t express any desire to make a 4,200-mile roundtrip effort with his Camaro, that would also require a record-tying 498-point weekend to win the class championship.
David Caroll turned in his second win of the year in the No Limit Engineering GTT Class for trucks at Thunderhill. That moved him to first in the points chase with 882 on the board. That leaves the door a little more open in this class, as Hondo Miller’s ’70 Blazer (which finished second to Carroll at Thunderhill) would need a 447-point weekend to pass Carroll, but he’s another West Coast competitor, who doesn’t seem inclined to make that trip, with SEMA and the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational (OUSCI) just two weeks later.
It’s a different story for Fran Marchand’s ’50 Chevy pickup, which is signed up to run at Barber. Marchand would have to post a career-best 462 points in Alabama, but if the field is small enough and Marchand outclasses enough competitors, it could happen.
Bob Sobey is the three-time and defending OUSCI champion. He didn’t need to run in a single event this season, but he believes if you don’t stay active in competition, you will get caught. To that end, he ran in five events this season and won the After Dark Speed GTS Class every time he showed up, including a series record-tying 498-point weekend at Road America.
No one else in the GTS class even scored 490 points at an event this season and someone would need to average a record-tying 498 points at two events to beat Sobey, so the GTS Class championship is Sobey’s at this point. However, Dave Schotz’s Camaro outscored Sobey’s GT-R at Thunderhill, so don’t expect Sobey to have a cakewalk in Las Vegas to a record-setting fourth consecutive title.
Another strong contender for that OUSCI title, is Austin Barnes, who ran his ’03 Corvette in the first two events of the year in the GTL Class, including a 497-point weekend at NOLA. Barnes appears to have taken the approach of running the first two events and then waiting to see if anyone could catch him. The next-highest point total in the GTL Class after Barnes was posted by series rookie, Lisa Berry with 478 points at Thunderhill. However, she would’ve needed a 489-point weekend to have a mathematical shot at catching Barnes in the final event.
The most wide-open class at this point is the Geaux Moto GTC Class for compact cars. Austin Keys’ ’98 Miata leads the way with 790 points after winning at Thunderhill. Literally, any of the other 12 competitors in the class, who have run already this season, could catch and pass Keys in the regular season finale, but none of them are registered for this event at this time. That seems to suggest Keys will lock up that championship.
Finally, we have the GT Class for late-model musclecars. Dave Schotz has set a very high bar with 987 points in his ’22 Camaro, but both Bryan Reilly’s ’18 Camaro and Matt Ramirez’s ’04 Mustang would have a shot at Barber. It would be a long shot for either of them and even longer for Ramirez, who had mechanical issues at Thunderhill, but the math could work. Reilly is West of the Rocky mountains, but he’s run at Pittsburgh and Road America this season, so transit drives aren’t an issue for him.
While the class champions may be set after Thunderhill, the field for the 18th OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational is far from locked in and there’s plenty left to be decided. Get more information on the series and how you can join with your street car (or truck) at www.DriveOPTIMA.com
Top Ten Overall
1. Dave Schotz                       2022 Chevrolet Camaro        GT           493 points
2. Bob Sobey                        2013 Nissan GT-R                GTS           492 points
3. Lane Farka                        2001 Porsche 911                  GTS           485 points
4. Lisa Berry                         2015 Porsche GT3                GTL           478 points
5. Brian Hobaugh                  2003 Chevrolet Corvette       GTS           472 points
6. Nick Relampagos              1970 Chevrolet Camaro        GTV           470 points
7. Scott Lezchuk                    2020 Telsa Model 3               GTS           456 points
8. Michale Antonson             2019 Ford Mustang               GT           451 points
9. Rick Ray                          1971 Chevrolet Camaro        GTV           449 points
10. Jason Trantham                2021 Chevrolet Corvette       GTS           441 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
