OPTIMA’s Search for the Ultimate Street Car in New Orleans
Ford captures the GT Class Championship
There are seven different classes that compete in OPTIMA’s Search for the Ultimate Street Car, presented by Advance Auto Parts, but the GT Class is where the late-model musclecars live. It showcases the most iconic rivalry in all of motorsport – Ford versus Chevy. In the six years this series has been in existence, Fords have never managed to capture a regular season title, but all that changed this year.
Cliff Elliott came out of the gate in the second event of the season, posting a 479-point performance in his 2016 Mustang GT. Jonathan Blevins followed that up with a pair of 453-point finishes in two of the next three events in his 2008 GT500. However, the Camaros of Tony Scalici and Wes Drelleshak made it known that they were definitely in the hunt, as they both moved to the top of the standings as the season rolled on.
After six events, Blevins’ lead at the top was just 30 points over Drelleshak and 25 points over Scalici. However, the final regular season event was set to go down in New Orleans, which is an extremely long haul for Drelleshak (California) and an even longer haul for Scalici (Oregon). Ultimately, neither one made the trip to Louisiana, which left the championship to be decided between Blevins and Elliott.
Elliott came into NOLA with only two events under his belt, so he was all the way back in 16th. However, his two previous performances this season suggested he could easily catapult all the way to the top spot in the final regular season event of the year (a competitor’s best three events count toward their season point total). Blevins knew the numbers and there was no way he wasn’t coming to New Orleans to protect his lead.
NOLA was one of the earliest tracks to sell out this season, but with it being the final regular season event of the year, many competitors already know if they’ve been invited to the SEMA Show and OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational (OUSCI) or if they probably have enough points to earn an entry through that route. Several others saw their seasons end early due to mechanical issues. That resulted in massive no-shows in New Orleans, which also meant the cars that did make it would have plenty of opportunities to capture valuable points. The question was whether Elliott could grab enough to catch Blevins and if Blevins could grab any more to hold off Elliott?
As the weekend started out, Elliott made his last run his best on the QA1 Autocross and shaved nearly four tenths of a second off his previous best to grab 82 points. However, Blevins still finished more than a tenth faster, which gave him 86 points. The Lucas Oil Road Rally was the easiest 100 points either competitor picked up all season and then it was on to the Lingenfelter Design & Engineering Challenge, where they both typically finish in the top ten overall.
That was the case again, as Elliott grabbed 92 points, while Blevins picked up 99 points. At that point, if Blevins averaged 72 points in the PowerStop Speed Stop and Falken Tire Road Course, he’d add to his season point total. For Elliott, it was a matter of closing the gap on Blevins’ current point total and after three events, he needed 171 points to equal Blevins’ total coming into the event.
Blevins once again held a slight edge in the PowerStop Speed Stop, grabbing 89 points to Elliott’s 86 points. That meant Blevins would start adding to his season total with any finish on the road course that resulted in 54 or more points. However, if he was unable to add any points, Elliott could tie his total if he grabbed 85 points on the big track. Elliott grabbed the 85 points he needed, but at that point Blevins was a lock to add more points to his season total. Further attrition during the weekend left just 43 cars to run on the big track, which guaranteed Blevins would add points, if he could just complete a lap. He did far more than that, posting the ninth-fastest lap of the weekend, sealing his championship. Had Blevins not made the trip to New Orleans, Elliott would’ve likely grabbed four more points, which would’ve been his margin of victory for the GT Class championship.
The final result was two Fords in the top two spots in the GT Class and Ford’s first regular season championship in the series history. In the Classic Car Liquidators GTV Class, Robert Britton’s 1965 Mustang fastback turned in the best performance of his career, moving him into the top twenty in points on the season, joining John McKissack as the only other Blue Oval in that top tier.
Even more impressive was Mike Gallagher’s finish in the Recaro GTS Class. Gallagher’s Focus RS just came off a grand champion performance at the Holley Intergalactic Ford Festival and is the only Ford in the 52-car GTS class. Mike somehow managed to out-perform all but six of those cars, finishing just a single point behind Bob Sobey’s Nissan GT-R in the final standings.
A surprising story coming out of New Orleans was that of rookie, Maddie Wallace, who was running in her first event in a 2018 Focus ST in the GTC Class. Wallace came in with low expectations, but more than held her own, finishing fifth in the most competitive GTC field the series has ever seen and earning an invitation on points to the 2019 OUSCI. Overall, it was a banner season for Fords in the OPTIMA series and their attention now turns to the big show in Las Vegas.
If this sounds like too much fun for you to miss out on in your street car, head over to DriveOPTIMA.com, read up on the series and make your plans for 2020.
Classic Car Liquidators GTV Class (Pre-1990, 3,200+ pounds)
Recaro GTS Class (Post-1989, 3,200+ pounds, two-seaters & AWD vehicles)
Holley EFI GTL Class (Non-compacts under 3,200 pounds)
OPTIMA Chargers GTE Class (BEV electric vehicles)
GTC Class (two-wheel drive compacts, 107-inch wheelbase or less)
OPTIMA Batteries GT Class (post-1989, 3,200+ pounds, 2wd sedans, 4-seater coupes, trucks, etc…)
Outlaw Class (relaxed aero rules, pro drivers allowed)
Spectre Performance Spirit of the Event Award
Valerie Pichette, 1988 Pontiac GTA
2019 OPTIMA Search for the Ultimate Street Car Schedule
Las Vegas Motor Speedway March 16-17
Daytona International Speedway April 12-13
National Corvette Museum June 1-2
Pike’s Peak International Raceway July 6-7
Road America August 16-17
Auto Club Speedway September 14-15
NOLA Motorsports Park October 5-6
OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational November 9-10
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