K&N Team Driver, Danny Popp Earns "Three-Peat" at the 2016 OPTIMA Invitational

27 mar 2017

OUSCI competitors cars in OPTIMA Alley in front of the rig.

Just a taste of the incredible hardware in OPTIMA Alley

OPTIMA’s ULTIMATE STREET CAR INVITATIONAL also know as OUSCI took place the weekend immediately following SEMA. The SEMA Show is the premier automotive specialty products trade event in the world. It draws the industry's brightest minds and hottest products to one place, the Las Vegas Convention Center.

SEMA, formed in 1963 by Roy Richter, Willie Garner, Bob Hedman, Robert E. Wyman, John Bartlett, Phil Weiand, Jr., Al Segal, Dean Moon, and Vic Edelbrock, Jr. and now consists of 6,383 companies worldwide, bringing together aftermarket manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers (OEM), media, car dealers, specialty equipment distributors, installers, retailers, and restoration specialists.

A mix of old and new cars on road course making up the OUSCI field

A diverse field makes up the competition at the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational

After an activity-packed week at the Las Vegas Convention Center the Optima’s Ultimate Street Car Invitees including the Golden Ticket Winners, the 2016 Qualifier Event winners, the Spirit of the Event winners along with the Top Points earners hop in their killer rides that are conveniently parked in OPTIMA Alley and lead the parade of cars that head to SEMA Ignited, the ultimate SEMA afterparty. Here the shows attendees have an opportunity to see the cars up close and get a chance to meet the owner/drivers.

After an evening of meet and greet the invitees need to focus on their competition, OUSCI, that takes place at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Cam Douglass, Director of Marketing at OPTIMA Batteries, Johnson Control, had this to say about the OUSCI, “We created this event nine years ago, and although the industry has changed, the reason we created this event still stands – to see what the incredible cars from garages across the country and the SEMA show floor are really capable of using the show’s high performance parts.”

Leader Danny Popp with Rich Wilhoff behind on road course.

Rich Wilhoff on the hunt with Danny Popp never being one to give up an inch!

Since its inception the field has been thick with competition and diversity, showcasing some of the automotive industries most forward thinking vehicles. But if you’ve been following this series you will notice the field is comprised with a majority going to Chevrolet’s flagship performance vehicles, the Corvette and the Camaro. 21 Corvette’s from Greg Thurmond’s 1965 to the late models and C7s making up almost a quarter of the field. Add in the 19 Camaros ranging from the highly modified 1967 of Mike Dusold to the bevy of 5th Gens that were tough competitors and you see pretty quick that the Chevrolets have come in force!

Saturday saw the field divided between the Detroit Speed Autocross and PowerStop Speed Stop Challenge in the morning with a switch after the noon hour. Saturday evening for the Lucas Oil Road Rally the competitors would cruise the Las Vegas Strip to the Shelby Museum for a little dinner and music. Sunday our competitors would each receive four fifteen minute run sessions in the Falken Tire Road Course Time Trial. This afforded them a chance to lay down their fastest lap time. Scores would then be tallied and added to the Lingenfelter Design & Engineering scores to flesh out the Ultimate Street Car and crown the victor.

Rozelle and his '69 Camaro along with Wilhoff and his C7 waiting to be judged at Lingenfelter D&

Jake Rozelle and Rich Wilhoff lined up for the Lingenfelter Design & Engineering Challenge

In the end, K&N Filters team driver Danny Popp and his 2003 Chevrolet Corvette beat out nearly 100 of the nation’s top-performing street cars to win the 2016 OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational. This is Danny's "three-peat" or rather his third consecutive OUSCI win! “The field gets deeper and more talented every year – better cars are showing up and it’s exciting. We have a lot of people who help with this vehicle and extraordinary results are more easily accomplished through the efforts of many,” said Popp.

Each competitor received points as they competed in the challenges. This year, Ken Thwaits took second place overall competing in a 2006 Mitsubishi Evo and Rich Willhoff came in third place in a 2006 Chevrolet Corvette.