2012 Optima Ultimate Street Car Challenge Invitational
Showcasing aftermarket and pro-touring cars at SEMA is only one part of an exciting week dedicated, in part, to these lovingly created performance machines. The ultimate finale is Optima Batteries Ultimate Street Car Challenge Invitational. Venturing from all over the world, competitors headed to Pahrump, NV on Saturday November 3, 2012 to compete in autocross, road course, road rally, braking and acceleration, style and design competitions, and more.
The 5th Annual Invitational, which has been steadily growing in reputation and numbers, now hosts a series of qualifying events throughout the year as well as the event itself, which kicks off on the Friday after SEMA with the Detroit Speed and Engineering/JRI Shocks Road Rally. The BFGoodrich Hot Lap Challenge, Ridetech Autocross Challenge, Wilwood Disc Brakes Speed Stop Challenge, and the Lingenfelter Performance Engineering Performance Design Challenge occur all day Saturday.
This year, Brian Hobaugh’s ’73 Chevrolet Camaro beat out Mark Stielow’s ’67 Camaro in the BFGoodrich hotlap with a time of 01:46.155 to 01:46.183. But Stielow’s silver “Mayhem”, running this year for the first time following a series of Stielow-built ’69s, took both the Autocross and the ultimate championship title with Hobaugh coming in second, followed by Todd Earsley in a’03 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8 GSR and Bret Voelkel in a ’33 Ford Coupe in a tie for 3rd.
Points are awarded in each category for a total of 110 possible.
Both Stielow and Hobaugh picked up 10 points each in the Road Rally. Stielow saw a 16-12 advantage in the r Performance Design Challenge and a 25-22 edge in the Autocross. Hobaugh also topped Stielow, 13-10, in the Speed Stop Challenge, but ultimately Stielow’s 83 out of 110 points earned him his second Ultimate Challenge Winner title.
Click here for a further breakdown of the results, and visit Bangshift.com for a full gallery of images.
