HOT HOT HOT! This event was hot in every way, but mostly in the literal term. Temperatures soared well over 100 degrees, then add in acres of black top and fire breathing engines and you have a sweat-tastic event. Even with the heat, everybody was smiling and pushing their cars to the limits all weekend long. A little heat wasn’t scaring anybody away from the last Optima Ultimate Street Car Challenge event before SEMA!

Bright and early Saturday morning the event started, and it was still hot then. On Saturday the events comprised of the Detroit Speed Autocross, Lingenfelter Design and Engineering Challenge, and the Wilwood Brakes Speed Stop Challenge with the Road Rally finishing off the day. By the end of the day, each car has been beaten, pushed to it’s limits and inspected to make sure it’s all up to par in all aspects of the car.

The competition was stacked to the hills this weekend, with many of the best in the business here competing. This event was the last chance qualifier before the Invitational at SEMA just a few weeks away. On top of that, this event was double points, something that nobody seemed to want to miss out on. Just like all the other events, the range of cars was huge, from your ’69 Camaros’ to a Dodge Neon and everything else thrown in between. The boys from Roadkill were even out in their latest contraption, an old Mazda truck with an Oldsmobile motor and trans-axle.

The Detroit Speed Autocross was where a lot of action was, a driver favorite. The course was good in size, but with lots of tight turns which helped some of the lower horsepower drivers out. The absolute fastest lap time was in the GTL class, with Steve Abbott running a blazing 44.973 second run in his 2004 Corvette Z06.

With the extreme heat, the track was slick and traction was a hot commodity that everybody was after. In between runs most had their hoods up and were spraying down their tires in a frugal attempt at cooling them off a few degrees before heading back for more action.

The Speed Stop Challenge was seeing lots of tire screeching action as well, from trying to gain traction on the start line and maintain that traction through-out the course and most importantly, while braking. The Speed Stop is a neat event because it really is a true test of every aspect of the car – you have the power of horsepower and drag racing abilities with the launch, the handling ability of the suspension going around the corner and slalom, and the braking abilities by landing the car safely inside the stop box.

The Lingenfelter Design and Engineering Challenge was underway all day as well, where Mike Copeland and his team were inspecting the cars. They are checking things like modifications, safety, changes to the car, and overall design of the vehicle. They want to make sure that the vehicle is street worthy and race ready.

After all the racing action slowed down, everybody hopped in an went on the Road Rally. This challenge is simple, a drive through the streets of Southern California to prove the cars are roadworthy and indeed, street legal. But the points from this challenge count and are just as important as all the other challenges too.

Sunday brought about the Falken Tire Hot Lap Challenge, the main event! This is where the racers are able to really push their cars to the limit on the road course, hitting triple digit speeds and seeing what the point of no-return is with traction.

Even though the road course is purely a time-based event, there was plenty of racing between competitors at the event as well. We saw a C6 Corvette and Nissan GTR trading spots on the track in an intense battle all session long.

Unfortunately, due to the strict safety measures we weren’t able to get a lot of pictures from Sunday’s racing. Hopefully next year the officials will have better viewing spots for spectators and we can get some up-close shots for you!

To see all the event times and results, click here on the Drive USCA site. For overall standings from the event, scroll down. And as always, be sure to check out the massive gallery below!

GTV

Registrant (38)	Car #	Road Rally	Design	Hot Lap	Autocross	Speed Stop	Score	Rank
Kyle Tucker 1970 Chevy Camaro	39	50	40.4000	44	44	50	228.4000	1
Mike Maier 1966 Ford Mustang	35	50	40.4667	40	40	32	202.4667	2
Jake Rozelle 1969 Chevy Camaro	33	50	41.0000	50	32	28	201.0000	3
Mary Pozzi 1973 Chevrolet Camaro RS	87	50	39.9333	14.72	50	44	198.6533	4
Larry Woo 1968 Chevrolet Camaro	89	50	40.7333	36	30	36	192.7333	5
Chris Smith 1972 Chevy Corvette	88	50	40.0000	30	28	40	188.0000	6
James Shipka 1967 Chevrolet Camaro	41	50	40.0000	32	36	26	184.0000	7
Matt Alcala 1969 Chevrolet Camaro	94	50	40.4667	26	26	30	172.4667	8
Chad Ryker 1968 Chevrolet Camaro	77	50	38.8667	24	22	22	156.8667	9
Chris Porter 1986 PoorVette 948	98	50	37.9333	28	15.96	24	155.8933	10
Keith Smith 1971 Chevy Camaro	105	50	32.2667	18	24	17.6	141.8667	11
Tony Grzelakowski 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle	101	50	38.4667	17.6	17.18	18	141.2467	12
Sal Solorzano 1968 Chevrolet Camaro	100	50	37.6000	17.18	16.36	17.18	138.3200	13
Kyle Newman 1957 Chevy 210 Wagon	30	50	37.0667	16.78	18	15.96	137.8067	14
Ceasar Martinez 1966 Ford Mustang	74	50	40.2667	16.36	16.78	14.32	137.7267	15
Bret Voelkel 1969 Ford Mustang	48	50	38.4667	15.96	15.54	16.36	136.3267	16
Efrain Diaz 1969 Chevrolet Camaro	42	50	38.8667	14.32	14.32	16.78	134.2867	17
Carl Casanova 1968 Chevy Camaro	43	50	39.4667	15.54	12.26	15.54	132.8067	18
Valerie Pichette 1988 Pontiac GTA	32	50	39.2000	12.26	13.9	13.08	128.4400	19
James Crosby 1956 Chevy Bel Air	26	50	37.5333	12.68	13.5	11.86	125.5733	20
Tom Kamman 1967 Plymouth Valiant	28	50	30.8667	15.14	17.6	11.04	124.6467	21
Brandy Phillips 1972 Chevrolet C10R	96	50	35.4667	11.86	14.72	11.44	123.4867	22
John McKissack 1966 ford fairlane 500xl	14	50	26.0000	22	11.86	13.5	123.3600	23
Steve Keefer 1967 Chevy Camaro	57	50	43.8667	0	9.8	12.68	116.3467	24
Nick Relampagos 1970 Chevy Camaro	82	50	26.9333	13.5	11.44	13.9	115.7733	25
Jason Anthony 1967 Ford Fastback Mustang	84	50	31.2000	11.04	11.04	12.26	115.5400	26
Ryon Chandler 1968 Chevrolet Camaro	56	50	37.8000	0	10.62	15.14	113.5600	27
Richard Trujillo 1969 Ford Mustang	52	0	31.1333	13.9	15.14	14.72	74.8933	28
Arlo Karikomi 1965 Chevrolet El Camino	61	50	0.0000	0	10.22	9.8	70.0200	29
Jesse Siordia 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle SS	97	0	38.5333	10.62	9.4	9.4	67.9533	30
Brandon Harris 1974 Chevrolet camaro	69	0	16.1333	13.08	12.68	10.62	52.5133	31
Kimmo Nevalainen 1965 Chevrolet Corvette	29	0	39.2000	11.44	0	0	50.6400	32
Charles Davis 1973 Chevrolet Camaro	107	0	0.0000	0	13.08	10.22	23.3000	33
Shane Rawlins 1969 Chevy Camaro	106	0	0.0000	0	0	0	0.0000	34
XMike XFinnegan 1974 Mazda REPU	9999	0	0.0000	0	0	0	0.0000	35
Alexis Piantieri 1966 Dodge Coronet	22	0	0.0000	0	0	0	0.0000	36
Michael Hamrick 1966 Ford Mustang	59	0	0.0000	0	0	0	0.0000	37
Kevin Reidy 1965 Chevrolet Chevelle	91	0	0.0000	0	0	0	0.0000	38

GTS

Registrant (13)	Car #	Road Rally	Design	Hot Lap	Autocross	Speed Stop	Score	Rank
Hugh Bate 2013 Nissan GTR	81	50	34.8000	44	36	50	214.8000	1
Todd Rumpke 2006 Chevrolet Z06 Corvette	63	50	38.2000	50	44	26	208.2000	2
Carrie Willhoff 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06	49	50	34.3333	40	40	40	204.3333	3
Ryan Volk 2014 Nissan GTR	53	50	36.6667	36	24	44	190.6667	4
Mike Ryan 1997 Chevy Corvette	95	50	35.0000	32	32	32	181.0000	5
Gregg Blundell 2002 Chevy Corvette	80	50	37.6667	30	30	30	177.6667	6
Ron Myers 2002 Chevrolet Corvette	79	50	28.8000	28	26	28	160.8000	7
Bob Denny 2008 VW R32	62	50	39.4667	24	18	22	153.4667	8
Kanan Gubins 2006 Chevy Corvette Z06	27	50	36.4000	0	22	18	126.4000	9
Brian Hobaugh 2003 Chevrolet Corvette Z06	25	0	37.1333	0	50	36	123.1333	10
Ryan Thacker 2008 Chevrolet Corvette	72	0	35.8000	26	28	24	113.8000	11
jonathan chu 2014 nissan GTR	38	0	0.0000	0	0	0	0.0000	12
Rick Hoback 1999 Chevrolet Corvette TT	55	0	0.0000	0	0	0	0.0000	13

GTL

Registrant (19)	Car #	Road Rally	Design	Hot Lap	Autocross	Speed Stop	Score	Rank
Rich Willhoff 2006 Chevrolet Corvette Z06	47	50	30.2667	50	44	50	224.2667	1
David Carroll 1975 Datsun 280z	16	50	38.7333	32	40	44	204.7333	2
John Lazorack III 1988 Chrysler Conquest Tsi	92	50	39.8000	44	36	32	201.8000	3
Karl Dunn 2002 Chevrolet Corvette Z06	17	50	37.6000	36	32	36	191.6000	4
Douglas Wind 2004 Dodge SRT4	78	50	38.5333	40	26	24	178.5333	5
Cris Gonzalez 1970 Chevrolet Corvette	45	50	37.4667	28	28	28	171.4667	6
Martin Pond 1980 Mercury Zephyr	2	50	38.0000	26	17.6	26	157.6000	7
Jane Thurmond 1964 Chevrolet Corvette	83	50	39.9333	17.18	16.78	22	145.8933	8
Alcino Azevedo 1976 Ford Mustang Cobra	36	50	34.8667	17.6	22	18	142.4667	9
Gregg Biddlingmeier 1988 Ford Mustang	24	50	37.4667	18	17.18	17.6	140.2467	10
Randall Pond 1966 Shelby Mustang	12	50	30.0000	22	16.36	16.78	135.1400	11
Bob Boileau 1966 Datsun 520 Truck	67	50	20.0000	24	24	15.96	133.9600	12
Joe Escobar 1974 Ford Pinto	20	40	38.1333	16.78	15.96	16.36	127.2333	13
Joey Seely 1985 Porsche 911	104	0	32.1333	30	30	30	122.1333	14
Ian Sakurai 1966 Ford Mustang	60	50	35.7333	0	18	17.18	120.9133	15
Steve Abbott 2004 Chevrolet Corvette Z06	99	0	0.0000	0	50	40	90.0000	16
Tony Kirouac 1973 Chevrolet Camaro	50	0	0.0000	0	0	0	0.0000	17
Kenneth Allan Mitchell 1989 Chevrolet Corvette	40	0	0.0000	0	0	0	0.0000	18
Casey Cronin 1972 Chevrolet Corvette	51	0	0.0000	0	0	0	0.0000	19

GT

Registrant (30)	Car #	Road Rally	Design	Hot Lap	Autocross	Speed Stop	Score	Rank
Cody Mason 2015 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28	11	50	38.6667	50	50	40	228.6667	1
Bryan Johnson 2013 Chevrolet Camaro	71	50	38.0667	44	44	50	226.0667	2
Jordan Priestley 2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS/RS	86	50	38.3333	36	36	44	204.3333	3
Danny Popp 2010 Chevrolet Camaro	10	50	39.6667	40	32	36	197.6667	4
Andrew Nier 2012 Ford Mustang GT	15	50	37.4000	30	17.18	28	162.5800	5
Don Gonzales 2010 Chevy Camaro SS	64	50	36.0000	22	30	24	162.0000	6
Greg Nelson 2014 Chevrolet Camaro	76	50	35.8000	18	40	17.18	160.9800	7
Jason Chinn 2015 Chevy Camaro	85	50	34.2000	26	18	32	160.2000	8
Kurt Robinson 2015 Chevrolet Camaro	66	50	35.6000	32	24	18	159.6000	9
Cliff Elliott 2011 Ford Mustang	21	50	37.4000	24	15.96	30	157.3600	10
Dannie Pinard 2013 Chevy Camaro	34	50	37.3333	16.78	22	26	152.1133	11
Rick Andrade 2010 Chevrolet Camaro	68	50	37.8000	28	15.14	15.54	146.4800	12
chuck terry 2010 Chevy Camaro	70	50	36.4667	15.54	16.78	22	140.7867	13
Keith Jurcazak 2013 Chevrolet Camaro	90	50	37.0000	17.18	16.36	17.6	138.1400	14
Justin Goen 1995 Infiniti Q45	58	50	34.6667	17.6	17.6	16.78	136.6467	15
Robert Byrd 2010 Chevy Camaro	54	50	35.8000	16.36	15.54	15.96	133.6600	16
Daniel Lewis 2014 Dodge Challenger	102	50	37.9333	14.72	13.9	14.32	130.8733	17
Trish Byrd 2011 Chevrolet Camaro	46	50	36.9333	13.9	14.72	13.9	129.4533	18
Craig Hardee 2015 Chevrolet Z28	73	50	34.4000	15.96	13.5	14.72	128.5800	19
Dean Long 2010 Chevy Camaro	93	50	34.2000	14.32	14.32	15.14	127.9800	20
Ronald Alpert 2014 ford mustang gt	19	50	33.7333	15.14	12.68	13.08	124.6333	21
Frank Farace 1994 chevy c1500	110	0	34.1333	0	28	13.5	75.6333	22
Mike Finnegan 1974 Mazda REPU	103	0	30.2000	13.5	13.08	0	56.7800	23
Will Flores 2013 Chevy Camaro 1LE	65	0	0.0000	0	26	16.36	42.3600	24
Zachary Quinones 2002 Ford Mustang GT	37	0	0.0000	0	0	0	0.0000	25
darren reed 2014 chevrolet camaro ss 1le	23	0	0.0000	0	0	0	0.0000	26
Ken Thwaits 2014 Chevrolet Camaro	108	0	0.0000	0	0	0	0.0000	27
Chandler Premo 2009 BMW E92 M3	75	0	0.0000	0	0	0	0.0000	28
Martha Gregory 2002 Chevrolet Camaro SS	18	0	0.0000	0	0	0	0.0000	29
Mike Gallagher 2009 Cadillac CTS-V	44	0	0.0000	0	0	0	0.0000	30