2017 OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational Album Eight

Before Ken Thwaits became a mainstay in the Trans Am series, he was the first to climb a mountain in Ultimate Street Car competion, by being the first to put an import car at the top of the podium with his 2006 Mitsubishi Evo. He was also the first to win in a four-door and an AWD car. While some claimed Thwaits victory was the end of an era of dominance by two-wheel drive cars and American performance, neither prediction came true.

In fact, in the 14 years the OUSCI has been running, Chevrolet Camaros or Corvettes have won all but two of the events, although others have come very close, most-notably the Dodge Viper of Austin Barnes, which finished second to Thwaits in 2017 and second to Mike DuSold in both 2018 and 2019.

Past champions Jake Rozelle and CB Ramey seem to be favorites heading into the 2022 OUSCI, looking to extend the streak for Chevrolet, but Bob Sobey's Nissan GT-R and Jonathan Blevins' Mustang may have something to say about that. We can't wait to see what happens and if you're just getting up to speed on this series, you don't need to wait to take it all in. 

All the past episodes of OPTIMA's Search for the Ultimate Street Car, presented by Advance Auto Parts, are available to stream free, anytime on the OPTIMA Network on Roku.