The OPTIMA Faceoff at Road America & The Hot Rod Power Tour

[GrabberGT]

Originally Posted by OptimaJim

Hey Brandon,

We already have a Sunbeam Tiger in this year's field, but that's not to say that every oddball Renault LeCar or BMW Isetta that shows up is necessarily going to get an invite. We just don't want people to think they need an ABS-equipped '69 Camaro pumping out 700+ horsepower, just because that's what they see at the front of the pack. We know a lot of people prefer building Camaros and Firebirds and we pick a lot of really cool examples each year, but we also like seeing cars and trucks that surprise us for a variety of reasons. Does that help answer your question?

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.twitter.com/optimabatteries

I feel like he's talking directly to me.

Wish I could go. Its in my back yard. I've got a cool enough car. (at least I think so) I just dont have it in the budget this year.

[Stielow]

Originally Posted by OptimaJim;

We just don't want people to think they need an ABS-equipped '69 Camaro pumping out 700+ horsepower, just because that's what they see at the front of the pack.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.

[url

www.twitter.com/optimabatteries[/url]

Hey are you talking about me.....

At Road America are you running the full course of just half of the track?

Mark

[Van B]

Originally Posted by Stielow

Hey are you talking about me.....

At Road America are you running the full course of just half of the track?

Mark

Just the back half I am pretty sure.

[OptimaJim]

I'm glad so many of you feel like I'm speaking directly to you, because our intent is to have a lot of folks think their car or truck would be well-suited for these events. Brandon, if we invited a well-built '52 Chevy coupe to the OUSCI, I don't know why we wouldn't give consideration to a well-built '52 Chevy pickup. The list of pickups that have competed in the OUSCI grows every year.

Mark, I believe we are running the back half at RA. And your cars do set the bar incredibly high for first-gen Camaros, because some of the stuff that goes into them is years ahead of just about everyone else out there. Even if someone were able to produce a Camaro similar to one of Mark's, two other key components that have always given him an additional edge are the reliability of his cars and his driving ability.

In some ways, the cars Mark produces makes it harder for other Camaro owners, because they end up getting compared to Mark's car. Stephen Wetterau & Vinnie Allegretta's red '69 Camaros also made it into the field last year (as well as Brian Finch & Stacy Tucker's '69s), but for all those that did make it, many others did not. For those that missed the cut, if they had built a '72 Mercury Comet (or Maverick) instead, would things have turned out differently? Quite possibly.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.optimainvitational.com

[GrabberGT]

Originally Posted by OptimaJim

For those that missed the cut, if they had built a '72 Mercury Comet (or Maverick) instead, would things have turned out differently? Quite possibly.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.optimainvitational.com

Thats not right. You're taunting me now.

[OptimaJim]

Not taunting, but definitely encouraging!

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.optimainvitational.com

[Van B]

Jim,

What is hotel availability like with Nationwide and Grand Am in town?

[OptimaJim]

Probably not great in the immediate area, but still plenty of options. I just went on Expedia and they still had rooms available at the Americinn in Plymouth & The American Club in Kohler. We also have a fairly extensive list of lodging options available on the www.optimainvitational.com website- http://optimainvitational.com/OPTIMA...%20Lodging.pdf

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.optimainvitational.com

[mike343sharpstk]

Last time this was at Road America one of my favorite cars to watch was an early 70’s Trans Am. It was not a super-trick build, rather a nicely balanced car and it worked very well. I believe that was invited to Vegas that year. The word ULTIMATE is a very subjective term, and when added to the term STREET CAR it gets even more so.

It was inspirational to see that you do not need to spend piles of money to have a great performing car. I have been improving my car to participate next time it was in my neighborhood but I’m going to come a bit short this year.

I was planning to run my Javelin, but real life is getting in the way, the nail in the coffin came when I was filling in the entry form. I came to the realization that my tires did not meet the treadwear requirements. It's hard to justify the expense of 4 new tires when I don't actually need them, LOL.

Jim, if you need any volunteers shoot me a PM, I’ll be there either way

[MaxHarvard]

I'm rip roaring to go!