What are the Toughest Classes in OPTIMA's Ultimate Street Car Series

Ultimate Streetcar
Sponsor
OPTIMA Batteries
Location
Glendale, WI
Tags: DriveOPTIMA
  1. Competitors who run in OPTIMA's Ultimate Street Car series will find themselves in one of eight different classes, depending on the year, make, model and weight of their vehicle and who is driving it. As it is an amateur series, cars that are driven by professional race car drivers (or anyone other than the owner, immediate family member or builder) must run in the Nine Lives Racing Lucky 7 Outlaw Class. Other cars in that class could include tube frame chassis cars, vehicles that don't make weight for another class or cars with additional aerodynamic modifications not allowed in other classes.

    The Speedtech GTV Class is for pre-1990 two-wheel drive cars that weigh at least 3,200 pounds, which typically includes older Camaros, Mustangs and Corvettes. The No-Limit Engineering GTV Class is for trucks, vans and SUVs, while the After Dark Speed GTS Class is for two-seat coupes and all-wheel drive sedans built after 1989, that weigh more than 3,200 pounds. That would include most Teslas, Nissan GT-Rs, Vipers and heavier Corvettes.

    The Downforce Motorsports GTR Class is for factory-authorized replica vehicles, including Cobras, Daytona Coupes and GT40s from Superformance. The Lingenfelter GTL Class is home to the vehicles that weigh less than 3,200 pounds, that don't compete in the Geaux Moto GTC Class for compact vehicles that do not have V8s and have a wheelbase of no more than 107 inches. Finally, there's the Viking Performance GT Class for 1990 and newer four-seat coupes and sedans that weigh at least 3,200 pounds, which would include Camaros, Mustangs, Dodge Chargers, etc...

    So which of these classes is the most-competitive or toughest to compete in? There are many different ways to answer that question, including counting up the number of OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational wins by class. For the purpose of this analysis, we decided to look at the top-10 in each class over the last three seasons and find out which classes required the highest percentage of points available in order to make it into the top-10 at the end of the season.

    For example, there are a maximum of 500 points available (except for the Lucky 7 Outlaw Class, which maxes out at 400 points) and over the last three seasons, the tenth-place car in the GTV Class averaged 390 points per event. We also found that over the last three seasons, every class except the GTL Class saw that tenth place averge finish increase over those three seasons. For example, in 2021, the tenth-place car in the GTS Class averaged 404 points per event. That average increased in 2022 to 423 points and again in 2023 to 434 points. So we'll rank the toughest from top to bottom:

    1. After Dark Speed GTS Class
    2. Viking Performance GT Class
    3. Speedtech GTV Class
    4. Nine Lives Racing Lucky 7 Outlaw Class
    5. No-Limit Engineering GTT Class
    6. Lingenfelter GTL Class
    7. Downforce Motorsports GTR Class
    8. Geaux Moto GTC Class


    Be sure to check out some incredible examples of these vehicles and drivers below, from our 2024 event at Thunderhill Raceway.