SMOTY / OUSCI Has this ever happened??
 

With all the prestige that goes with building a Street Machine of the Year and all the prestige that goes with being invited to the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational, I was wondering if there has ever been a car who has won both the SMOTY and the OUSCI?

And to all the builders out there, would you rather build a top 5 contender for the Street Machine of the Year or a great 8 contender for the Riddler?

It will never happen that a Street Machine of the Year winner will ever win The Optima Shootout. They would be too heavy, They would be so nice that no one would ever push them that hard and they are built for Form over Function for the most part.

I would like to build both. To me they are no where near the same. They both present opposite challenges to win the award. Nobody ever remembers the contenders.

Yep, never happen in a million years.

Considering the past years winners of the SMOTY, do you think it will always be an over the top car that wins? Do you think it will ever come back to a well built, well designed car like Steilow's red Devil or some of the DSE builds, or has the bar already been set too high with all the custom fab work and out of control check books?

I disagree, I think it could happen.With the bar being raised higher and higher each year Its just a matter of time before somebody with very deep pockets is able to finance a car utilizing alot of composites and titanium therefore bringing the car to a competitive weight for OUSCI. It will take a ton of money and an owner thats not afraid to push it to the limit (including their checkbook!)

Not sure if it could ever happen, because the two are on different ends of the build spectrum. It sure would be fun to try!:thumbsup:

I'm sure there are alot of builders out there who would love to meet this person.:drool:

I like the way you think...

My post from the other site:

I could see it happening. Why not have a race inspired SMOTY that can perform as well? What are the criteria for a SMOTY car that would take it out of competition at OUSCI? Perhaps a lot of it is the driver. I see no real reason the RS Vette could not have been a contender in the same fashion Bruce's Cobra was. Just needed a little more power, tuning, and a skilled hand behind the wheel willing to push it. Judging by other winners of SMOTY, ground effects and wild body mods are favorable for SMOTY. Those same mods can be made to be a benefit for OUSCI. They just need to be applied to the right car in the right way. We've had the discussion on what it would take to beet the modern modern Vette's (Danny Pop) out there. This is it. Free reign to reengineer a musclecar to be competitive. Now who do we know who is an engineer by day, amateur race car driver by night, and has deep enough pockets to make this happen?

Couple things come to mind.

I have trouble seeing a car that pushes all the judges hot buttons capable of being competitive in the modern OUSCI.

Secondly, the car is going to need EXTENSIVE testing and tweaking on the race track to have any chance. Then, the owner or builder is going to need to be an extreme hot shoe. Then you have to outgun a Z06. Not easy... It all sounds great until you build the street machine of the year and get it out on the track and start beating it up. Will the owner/builder really push it to the limit that it will take to win?

Nothing is impossible.....just very unlikely.

With respect to the craft that we so much adore and relentlessly pursue and spend our life savings on, I won't say never. With more and more cars becoming lighter with carbon fiber, fiberglass, etc, weight will become less more of an issue. Take the 2nd gen Camaro ProfeSSor for instance. It wasn't considered a SMOTY, but look at all the track inspired mods it had done to it. And, it still looked beautiful enough to be right there with the best of them. So, I can see our hobby leaning towards it in the future. 20 years ago, nobody saw restoring our cars to the sum of $400k-$500k either. So, 20 years from now it's scary to see what it will be like. Guys are already working on AWD classics. So, it's coming.

Exactly.

They say never say never, but I'll make an exception. :)

$400-500k was quite a few years ago wasn't it?? The $$$ for a SMOY is alot more.

Yeah, it seems like there is an ever growing number of nice cars in between 600-700k right now, and those don't even stand out compared to the really wild cars!

Matt

It's sure fun to think it could, but yeah.. not happenin. For the million reasons listed above and a million others.

The Optima win is a pretty big deal to a lot of people, but is it really worth hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars to someone? That is one interesting person with a lot of money if it happens... I'd bet they'd be after a different prize if the checkbook was that large.

Agreed But at some point somebody is going to say. Why don't we just go race real "RACE CARS"?

You could be 2 cars to win the SMOTY award and 2 More cars to Win Optima for probably less cost then one car to win both awards.

Are 2 trophies and internet bragging rights really worth that much investment? Not sure I would want to meet the guy with that ego.

With Bill getting all the other racing events going and with DSE adding a few also, the Optima is not the one and only large track event anymore. Its still a great event but not the superbowl as before. So I could see a SMOTY and a Street Car Series race be the same winner at some point. Your odds are better because of more similiar events.

Seems like BB fits a lot of that description. It certainly has some unique features. Perhaps not quite enough for SMOTY, but who knows... :)

Come on Karl, you could do it!!!

Thoughts/Ramblings
 

Just a stupid thought - -I have lots of those......

Financially, it may be more cost effective for previously mentioned uber-rich ego-maniac to build two cars, one to win the SMOY and one to win the Optima vs. one car to do both....Still get both trophies............

The only other thing that could shift the "one car" probability more toward the possible end of the spectrum is if the style trend for SMOY seriously shifts toward more race inspired versus the current, but it would have to shift drastically.....ie: no interior is now the cool thing to do. OK, I just talked myself back into the "not possible" category.

You hear that you rich egotistical bastard? I said you can't do it - said in my most antagonistic tone.....:yes:

Just in case someone was on the fence and needed someone to call them out.:unibrow:

Thats enough gibberish out of me.......

Yes there are a few events and new ones being added. However I disagree, the OPTIMA Challenge is the Super bowl or the Daytona 500 for this hobby or sport.

This all seems to point back to the old debate of street car vs. race car vs. show car.

One would like to believe that a STREET machine of the year winner could also win the Ultimate STREET car challenge. But it seems the way both events are judged, decided, etc. lean opposite ways.

In the SMOTY competition you have to have a $750,000 show car and big enough OO's to run it on a short autocross for which time isn't the deciding factor. To me SMOTY is turning into what happened at indoor ISCA shows. As soon as the masses feel like they have lost touch with the possibility of attaining a goal, they will move on to something else. This is one of the reasons street rodding is not as popular as it was. I think this has helped rat rods become more popular too.

For the OUSCI competition you have to have a 6 figure race car that is detailed enough to not look like a race car. Stielow won in a street car in my opinion. (Altough still 6 figures) Danny's car was a street car per say but venturing a little more toward race car. I predict you will see many more purpose built race cars at OUSCI unless the organizers pull it back a bit.

For example, I don't know how many of you have seen Rob from No Limits new truck Hell Boy. I love it, it is bad a$$, but it is a tube chassied race car with truck sheet metal on it. Sure, you can register it and drive it on the street. But.....
(No Offense Rob, I love the truck and am jealous!)

In the end, when someone can win and someone can loose as related to cars, MONEY wins! Someone will always spend what it takes to win!

Let the stoning begin! :willy: :cheers:

Hell, we'll build twin cars...one optimized for SMOTY competition and its evil twin to run Optima!

Don't laugh...its been done in other venues.

Anyone remember Stan Shaw about 25 years ago with a red 57 Chevy? Great guy...great cars. The "street" car was a steel 57 with a blown, intercooled, EFI big cube Chevy engine. [extremely radical for its time]The "race" car was a tube framed fiberglass body car that ran hard on alcohol...in the sixes if I remember right.

I'm with Rodger...at some point [and were not far off] it make infinitely more sense to build a real race car for racing, and a comfy street car for the street. It all depends on your definition of both. And your wallet. And your willingness to chase...whatever it is were all chasing.

The superbowl is crowning a champion for the whole year, Daytona is a BIG event at the beginning and means very little to who is the best for the year. Optima used to be it and only it, besides auto X at GG events. Not anymore. 2 of the 3 events at optima are almost identical to the other races.

That's it!! I've heard all I can take. I'm going to enter my car into them both next year and win them both. Then I'll say, "I thought y'all said it'll never happen. Look what I've accomplished in one year later.!" :P :P (awakens from my dream and wipes the slobber from my mouth) :lol: :lol:

But Rob's truck can only with Truck of the year. It's not a car. :D :D :D

okay so you race all year at other events, which have auto X, road course, and braking, held across the country to QUALIFY for the Optima event, in Vegas, in November. They crown a winner of the entire event. Yet you don't consider it the superbowl of our hobby?
So what event then is greater than the OUSCI? Maybe some of the guys here that competed in the event can comment, but I'm pretty sure they consider it the Championship title.

Can it happen? Yes

Will hit happen? Probably not.

If a "hot shoe" wins the lottery or is financed, a winner for both could be built. It would take way over $500k to do, but there are plenty of talented builders out there that could pull this off. None of them have put the package together yet. The "Pro-touring" movement is rapidly advancing. It is just a matter of time before a top builder gets the knowledge needed to build a fast car that looks good enough to win SMOTY. Blu Balz is close on both fronts, but not there yet. If someone where to give me $500k, I could give it a shot! :D

SCCA SOLO National Championships.


Build a car you wouldn't be out of place entering SMOTY and you could dethrone Mike Maier's SCCA CP Mustang at nationals, then consider yourself a champion.

No bed! :_paranoid

I agree, in the past that is all true. But with many more like events popping up, guys can have fun with their cars on road course events and not have to travel to Las Vegas. SEMA makes it easy to pull off, because alot of cars are already there. With all the previous politics involved with style points, cobra car and street cars vs race cars, these other events may erode its superbowl feel. Its about the fun and since they are not handing out paychecks at optima some guys may stay around home and race close by because its the same fun with potential less drama. I just see equally challenging events popping up, especially in the future. That is just competitive business, if their was only 3 nascar races a year each one would be huge.
So in reference to the question a SMOTY car may at some point compete with the top cars at one of the optima like events during the year, that's all I meant. That would be cool.
The optima event is great and I really enjoy watching it. Kudos to Bill and others for organizing other great events so more across the entire country can compete. Didn't mean to de rail the topic. Its all good.

It seems that in most cases, car owners focus on show or go but not at the same time. At least not at the level we are contemplating.

The show car crap is so subjective. I'd rather control my own destiny.

Hey Brian, here's $500,00 oh crap, the markets in Asia just went down! Never mind. :D The Runt was pretty close. Awesome car, but it's not gonna beat Danny. Your right, it's the hot shoe, and the killer car combination, that make this so difficult. Everything that makes a SMOTY adds weight, that has to come off somewhere else. Your car came in under weight, and you got to add ballast...where you wanted it. Blu Balz is too heavy, needs more HP, more rubber, and a hot shoe. :D I think she's closer to a SMOTY than a OUSCI. If you'd put some damn windows in your car, you might pull it off. :woot: jk You want to borrow some billet /carbon cup holders?

I think Blu Balz 2 is still in the works right Karl? With Cris getting advice from the pros he is now, you might have a serious contender in that car.

Karl has a killer car in Blu Balz and Chris did a beautiful job building the car without question,,,,, Now if you want the car to run nails give the Dam thing to DSE....
With respect here guys,,,,, who the hell are these "Pro's" that know how to optimize a suspension system better that DSE who engineered it...DSE's owners are trained engineers specifically in the area of suspensions and worked for a major car manufacture in that area... Logic and history, not to mention being the designers of the product make the decision pretty simple when reviewed....

Chris has done a beautiful job and is to be commended for building such a beautiful car...

Addressing Jeff's comment,,, your opinion is based on what engineering background???? And you've worked at what major car manufacture to have such depth of knowledge about suspension engineering???? Man sometimes I really think you like to hear yourself Talk Jeff,,, God knows I'm over your all to often offered/posted opinions on things you have nominal knowledge about already.... What a F--king joke,,, Rant Over......

SMOTY has turned into a car show. Kyle Tucker won SMOTY in 2000 with Twister. That car could have won OUSCI if there was one in 2000. Today the Goodguys want a over the top "show car". I like the Goodguys events but I like the track stuff a lot better. If I won the lottery and I could build a car with my buddy Troy Trepanier. There is a shot of winning both. One is a car show one is a TV show......and a lot of politics...:_paranoid

I took Red Devil to Goodguys Columbus event and had a blast waiting in the parking lot to do 5 passes at the AutoX over 3 days....:willy:

Not my kinda deal. I did get to see all my buddies though.

See ya at the track and OUSCI this year ---- Stielow

Take a chill pill dude, your getting to be as abrasive as I am. Your grammar makes my head hurt, I know this is the internet but try to have some semblance of structure and thought especially when you're representing a company.

DSE hired the same "Pro" to get their cars sorted out that Cris did. You don't need to be an engineer to have a fundamental understanding of vehicle dynamics, this should make sense to anyone with a head on their shoulders:
http://i1107.photobucket.com/albums/...O_Z28/tire.jpg
The engineering aspect of it comes into play when you start working with applied kinematics in dynamics.

There are car's in the work's right now that are being built just for an upcoming OUSCI.So it will prob. not happen for some time.SORRY.

Just the scenario I was thinking of with my post.

Stielow will get hit by lightning before he wins the lottery.

Quote: "To me SMOTY is turning into what happened at indoor ISCA shows. As soon as the masses feel like they have lost touch with the possibility of attaining a goal, they will move on to something else."Quote


Even though all of us are awed by the quality of all of the cars that are capable of winning a SMOTY, to most of us, they are not representative of the street/race trend of todays builds. Maybe there needs to be a new award that is more reflective of the direction our sport is headed. Since design is still a quarter of the points at OUSCI, and most of our cars are still street driven. It would seem that we're looking at an award that would take form and function into consideration. Something short of SMOTY, it would honor design, but the award would also recognize the race car focus and capabilities that are major goals of an increasing number of current builds.

To that end I propose the Street Car Racer Of The Year Award, the SCROTY. And IMO BLU BALZ has this one in the bag.:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

That's kinda funny!!