(Words by Jim McIlvaine Photos by Kaleb Kelley) Last year, the cut-off for earning a points invitation to the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational, presented by Advance Auto Parts was 781 points accumulated in your best two events of the seven-stage qualifying series. While no one has ever recorded a “perfect” 500-point weekend, a few have come close, including defending OUSCI champion, Bob Sobey and his 2013 Nissan GT-R and Chris Smith in his 1970 Chevy Camaro, which both posted 498-point weekends.
This year, after at least two events have been run on either side of the Rocky Mountains, a clearer picture has emerged as to who is contending for a prestigious invitation to the 2023 SEMA Show and the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational. Two events remain and each class is awarded one invitation at each of those qualifying events. After that, the top-three cars in each class that have not yet earned an invitation will receive class invitations. Finally, the top-ten at large cars that have not yet received an invitation will receive one, based on their point totals.
We’ll take a look at how each class could shake out below. Keep in mind, THESE ARE ONLY PROJECTIONS. A lot can happen in the final two qualifying events- first time competitors can rise up, top contenders can drop out and anything in between. We’ll start by looking at the only class that doesn’t have any cars in it, the No-Limit Engineering GTT Class for trucks, SUVs and vans.
There is currently only one truck projected to run in the GTT Class at Daytona and it has never run in the series before, even though it has signed up for previous events. If it does show up and it’s the only entry, it will be invited to Las Vegas by default. If there are no trucks in Daytona, the invitation will go unused. However, we suspect competitors like Tyler Hawker and Henry Crawn are eyeing this situation right now and deciding on whether they want to get their trucks to the Sunshine State.
If Hawker doesn’t go to Daytona, he is likely to secure the invitation at VIRginia International Raceway. If he does, we project the three GTT Class entries will go to Wes McFarland’s ’74 GMC C10, Jeff Glowniak’s ’72 Ford F100 and Hondo Miller’s 1970 Chevy Blazer.
We see a similar scenario unfolding in the Geaux Moto GTC Class for compact cars. At this point, there are seven entries for Daytona, but just two for VIR and both of those entries are projected to have their invitations to Las Vegas by then. If that’s the case and no one else signs up, Doug Wind’s SRT-4 is likely to grab the Daytona invitation and the invitation at VIR will go unused. The final class invitations would then be projected to go to Troy de la Houssaye’s ’16 Miata, Pierce Hathaway’s ’16 Miata and Saroja Day’s ’17 Miata.
The competition steps up significantly in the GTL Class for non-compacts that weigh less than 3,200 pounds. In that class, we see series veteran Matthew Hamson’s ’89 Mustang with a good chance of grabbing the class invitation at Daytona and Garry Walsh’s ’04 Corvette bringing it home from VIR. After that, we would project class point entries going to Josh Cummings’ ’16 Porsche GT4, Ricky Lammi’s ’77 Datsun 280Z and Al Radonski’s ’08 Corvette.
Moving to the GTS Class for late-model sports cars and all-wheel drive sedans, we could see Randy Adkins’ ’08 Corvette grabbing the invitation in Daytona and Tim Grant’s ’08 Corvette following suit at VIR. From there, we project the three class points entries to go to Brandon Hurst’s ’21 Tesla Model 3, Richard Forsythe’s ’08 Corvette and Jason Trantham’s ’21 Corvette.
The Viking Performance GT Class for late-model musclecars has been a dogfight all season long and that doesn’t seem likely to let up at the final two stops. We expect Austin Barnes’ four-banger ;20 Mustang will capture the class invitation at Daytona and Luke Vigneault’s ’11 Challenger to take home the invitation from VIR. That leaves class invitations likely to go to Jake Jackson’s ’18 Camaro, Kong Chang’s ’17 Mustang and Brian Reilly’s ’18 Camaro.
The largest class in the series in the Classic Car Liquidators GTV Class for pre-1990 entries and this year, it’s packed with a lot of very stout entries. We project Jason Smith’s ’87 Camaro could grab the class invitation at Daytona and another third gen Camaro driven by Wayne Atkins could do the same at VIR. The remaining class invitations could then go to Mike Dapkus’ ’69 Javelin, Garrett Randall’s ’70 Corvette and Sean Aldinger’s ’69 Camaro.
If those invitations go as projected, that would leave the following 10 drivers with at-large points entries:
1. Lane Farka 2018 Camaro GT
2. Matt Bacon 2017 Corvette GTS
3. Bob Foster 2012 Corvette GTS
4. Chris Pokorny 1992 Mustang GT
5. Jim Stehlin 1973 Camaro GTV
Last Five In
6. John McKissack 1966 Fairlane GTV
7. Tom Farrington 1966 Chevelle GTV
8. Thomas Marquez 2015 Impreza GTS
9. Scott Timmons 1967 Camaro GTV
10. Bill Haynie 2013 Mustang GT
First Five Out
11. Steven Bright 2012 370Z GT
12. Colt Johnson 2011 Mustang GT
13. Tony Phillips 1955 Bel Air GTV
14. Chris Brown 2016 Mustang GT
15. Alex Barnes 2016 Charger GT
We’ll once again take this opportunity to remind the reader these are only projections and a lot can happen between now and the end of the weekend at VIR in early-October. For example, Alex Barnes, whose Hellcat Charger sits at the bottom of the first five out could have a big weekend in Daytona and drive himself into the field. Jim Stehlin’s Camaro, which dropped out right before Road America, could continue to struggle in the final two events. The cut-line for at-large points entries appears to be above 800 points right now, so cars that don’t have 800 points yet need to get them in the final two events. We also know Daytona’s field is huge and deep, which could make accumulating points there a real challenge, while the smaller field at VIR could provide a boost in points for those who run there.
However it all shakes out, it promises to be an exciting conclusion to an incredible season. If you can’t be there for all the action, be sure to catch it later this year, when the TV series airs on the CBS Sports Network.
