OPTIMA World Championship Autocross 2020

The OPTIMA World Championship Autocross has been an event several years in the making. The OWCA logo first appeared on a 2016 Ford Focus RS in the OPTIMA Booth at the 2016 SEMA Show in Las Vegas and tentative plans were announced for 2017. The idea was ambitious, with full TV coverage and concepts that were outside the traditional autocross box. A private test session was held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in May of 2017, to test the concepts and the viability for a TV production. While the results were promising, the outcome did not yield an event. Other projects moved ahead and OPTIMA World Championship Autocross found itself on the back burner. 

2017 did mark the inaugural year of the OPTIMA DriveAutoX autocross series and there were hopes that the OWCA would come at the end of the year. However, the consensus was that an event worthy of a "World Championship" moniker needed to be done the right way and not as an afterthought, so the event stayed on the radar, but off the schedule.

Fast forward to 2020 and the world was turned upside down by a pandemic. Events around the country were being cancelled, including the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. OPTIMA was already midway through filming their seventh season of the Search for the Ultimate Street Car Series, presented by Advance Auto Parts and the series needed a conclusion at the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational, which typically takes place after the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. Simply canceling the remainder of that season and the accompanying TV series was not an option, but neither was returning to Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

That sent the OUSCI to Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, but it also created an opportunity to do more than just the OUSCI. Companies had products that needed showcasing, brand ambassadors and sponsored drivers had content they needed to generate and media outlets had a great need for content in a year that had been largely devoid of it. That resulted in the High-Performance Expo, which included the OUSCI, roll racing with the Streetcar Takeover, drifting exhibitions and the opportunity to hold the OPTIMA World Championship Autocross in a proper venue with proper support behind it. Many autocross events around the country had already been cancelled for 2020 and there was a sense that if presented correctly, the OPTIMA World Championship Autocross at Circuit of the Americas would draw the major players.

The format was intentionally straightforward and simple- one class consisting of production cars with 200+ treadwear tires. Entry was $250 per vehicle, capped at 100 entries and $25,000 was going to the winner. Additionally, the event would be livestreamed with a full production TV crew. It was all a leap of faith, but in what could easily be described as a crazy year, it seemed like it was all just crazy enough to work. Would the OPTIMA World Championship Autocross draw competitors on a large scale level? Would anyone watch the livestream besides a few friends and relatives, who couldn't attend in person?

The results exceeded even optimistic expectations. A total of 73 entries from around the country made the trek to COTA and a livestream audience of nearly 140,000 (as of this writing) tuned in to watch the action. While nearly half the field was Corvettes, the top-five overall featured five different marques. However, it was the 2011 Corvette piloted by Jeremy Swenson of Moorhead, Minnesota that took home top honors.

This wasn't Swenson's first autocross payday, as he previously-won the 2019 UMI Motorsports King of the Hill title and $10,000 prize. We congratulate Jeremy on his incredible achievement and look forward to the next OPTIMA World Championship Autocross, whenever and wherever that might be! Until then, add the OPTIMA Network on Roku and watch this amazing event.