(Words by Jim McIlvaine, Photos by Kaleb Kelley) The 2026 season of OPTIMA’s Ultimate Street Car series officially kicked off at G2 Motorsports Park in Anna, Texas. When the grid lined up, the field included the defending OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational (OUSCI) champion, Austin Barnes, five of the regular season class champions from 2025 and five of the top-10 OUSCI finishers from last season. What do they all know about G2 Motorsports, that compelled them all to make sure they started their season there?

Twelve Ultimate Street Car seasons have shown early season events and those that are not sold out tend to offer more points to competitors, than the later season events that are run at the most popular tracks, like Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca, Road America and this season, Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Many of those top contenders will also find their way to those events, but only their best two events will count toward their season-long point totals.

The very best cars in the series may be able to post point totals over 490 (500 is a perfect score), no matter where and when they run, but for the rest of the field, many find these “under the radar” events are the key to securing enough points to make it to Las Vegas for the SEMA Show and OUSCI, as well as locking up class points championships.

Chris Smith’s ’70 Camaro followed that strategy last year and had two big weekends at the season opener at Sebring and the Pittsburgh International Race Complex event tucked in between Laguna Seca and Road America on the schedule. OUSCI champion, Austin Barnes also came out of the gates strong last season, posting huge numbers at the first two events at Sebring and NOLA and then spent the rest of the season watching everyone else pursue him in vain.

The path was much tougher in 2025 for the Geaux Moto GTC Class Champion, Austin Keys, but illustrates the difference these tracks can make. Keys posted a 359 in his ’98 Miata at Laguna Seca, but did 72 points better (431) at Thunderhill, later in the season. Keys was not alone in that regard in the GTC Class.

Three GTC cars competed at both Laguna Seca and Thunderhill. Thunderhill had eight fewer entries and those three GTC cars scored on average, 46.3 points better at Thunderhill. A similar trend developed in the GT Class. Four GT cars finished the events at Road America and Barber Motorsports Park. All four scored more points at Barber, which had five fewer entries than Road America and the average point difference between the two tracks, across all four cars was 22.5 points.

Knowing these trends, which events in 2026 look to hold similar potential for those pursuing points for invitations and championships? From a numbers standpoint, NOLA Motorsports has the most potential, as it is the next event and has the smallest field as of this writing. Beyond that, Willow Springs and Barber would be in the next tier, followed by Road America and Laguna Seca. Which event will be the hardest to accumulate points (besides the OUSCI?). Without a doubt, the sold-out event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in October, where 108 vehicles are currently signed up.

See the top finishers from G2 Motorsports Park below, as well as a massive photo gallery and be sure to check out www.DriveOPTIMA.com for more information on the series and how you can compete in your street car!

Top Ten Overall
1. Dave Schotz                        2022 Chevrolet Camaro         GT            496 points
2. Chris Smith                         1970 Chevrolet Camaro         GTV            487 points
3. Dayton de la Houssaye       2017 Mazda MX-5                  GTC            474 points
4. Brandon Hurst                    2022 Tesla Model S                GTS            472 points
5. Tony Prutch                         2021 Chevrolet Corvette        GTS            468 points
6. Jason Smith                         1987 Chevrolet Camaro         GTV            467 points
7. David Carroll                      1974 Chevrolet Blazer            GTT            463 points
8. Stephen Lucas                     2000 Chevrolet Corvette        GTS            461 points
9. Sean Aldinger                     1969 Chevrolet Camaro         GTV            450 points
10. Troy de la Houssaye         2009 Mazda MX-5                  GTC            449 points

2026 OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Schedule
March 13-15^th G2 Motorsports Park
April 10-12^th   NOLA Motorsports Park
May 29-31^st     Willow Springs Raceway
August 28-30^th Road America
September 25-27^th Barber Motorsports Park
October 2-4^th Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca
October 9-11^th Indianapolis Motor Speedway (sold out)
October 13-November 6^th OUSCI Nevada

First Timer Award- James Maertz 1984 Chevrolet Corvette

Anderson Composites Competitor’s Choice Award- Kevin Kessler’s 1979 Pontiac Trans Am

Operational Speed Supply Surgical Strike Award- Brandon Hurst 2022 Tesla Model S