High Plains Shootout!
2012 OPTIMA ® Ultimate Street Car Invitational
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The fifth annual OPTIMA ® Ultimate Street Car Invitational, presented by K & N Filters and Royal Purple, brought in massive crowds with a sold out event, more thrilling moments and record times, ultimately crowning Mark Stielow and his custom 1967 Chevrolet Camaro as the 2012 OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car. It was a year for close competition with the top two participants separated by a single point and a tie for third place overall. Additionally, there was a more diverse showing of vehicles this year with nearly 20 percent of the field falling under the import category.
The OPTIMA Invitational packed the grandstands with nonstop activity, something for everyone in the manufacturer midway, on-the-ground excitement of television personalities( Amanda Salas and Bill Goldberg) filming the miniseries finale of the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational broadcast series. The main race events of the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational took place Saturday, November 3, with the BFGoodrich Hot Lap Challenge, Ridetech Autocross Challenge, Wilwood Disc Brakes Speed Stop Challenge, and the Lingenfelter Performance Engineering Performance and Design Challenge. The Detroit Speed and Engineering / JRI Shocks Road Rally occurred following the close of the SEMA Show Friday, November 2.
The Strength of Stielow With only a point to spare, Mark Stielow, known to some as the‘ Godfather of the Pro-Touring movement,’ claimed his second OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational title in four attempts. Stielow scored a total of 83 points, out of a total 110 possible across all events, beating second-place finisher, Brian Hobaugh. Both Stielow and Hobaugh picked up 10 points each in the Detroit Speed & Engineering / JRI Shocks Road Rally. Stielow saw a 16-12 advantage in the Lingenfelter Performance Design Challenge and a 25-22 edge in the RideTech Autocross. Hobaugh topped Stielow 25-22 in the
BFGoodrich Hot Lap Challenge and 13-10 in the Wilwood Disc Brakes Speed Stop Challenge.“ For a car I just got running four weeks ago, I felt we did better than I dreamed of in the OPTIMA Invitational. I give a lot of the credit to my partners on assembling the car, and a cast of friends that really helped out when the timing was tight. The thing that pushed this car over the top to win was its styling and the street usability of the car,” said Stielow. Finally, Stielow acknowledged how much the event has evolved saying,“ This event is an incredibly fun yet competitive experience, and the versatility and performance of the vehicles are better than ever.” Mark started auto crossing at the age of 18 in a 1966 MGB, which he purchased for $ 300. Now Mark, who has built seven magazine quality cars, has been featured in high profile publications such as Car and Driver and Hot Rod and has authored Pro Touring Engineered Performance.
OPTIMA Invitational Automotive Celebrity Integrations New this year, OPTIMA Batteries welcomed a number of well-known automotive celebrity racers to run in the event exhibition class including NASCAR racer Dylan Kwasniewski, Freightliner racer Mike Ryan and Erik Buell Racing rider Geoff May. Up-and-coming NASCAR favorite Dylan Kwasniewski set the tone for the day with a pace lap of 1 minute 38 seconds on the OPTIMA Invitational road course, with the next best participant coming in at 1 minute 46 seconds. At 17 years old, Kwasniewski has already been named NASCAR’ s Next 9, an elite list of top NASCAR prospects. For the past two years he has piloted the No. 03 Rockstar Energy / Royal Purple Ford for Gene Price Motorsports in the NASCAR K & N Pro Series West. A favorite with spectators was professional race driver and Hollywood stuntman Mike Ryan driving a Freightliner on the road course as part of an exhibition round. Another first in OPTIMA Invitational history was a battle of
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