2019 OPTIMA Batteries Ultimate Street Car Champion Crowned
OPTIMA Batteries awarded Mike DuSold and his 1967 Chevrolet Camaro as the 2019 Ultimate Street Car Champion at the 12th annual OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational at Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier this month.
“This is amazing and I couldn’t have done it without my team,” said Mike DuSold, two-time OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational winner. “Doing something like this takes more than one guy and I have to give credit where it’s due. We’re really so excited that we could pull this off, and just wait until you see what we have next year!”
The class winners are listed below:
OPTIMA Batteries GT Class:
Cliff Elliott, 2016 Ford Mustang GT
OPTIMA Chargers GTE Class:
John Laughlin, 2019 Tesla Model 3
GTC Class:
Thomas Litton, 1997 Mazda RX7
Recaro GTS Class:
Jordan Priestley, 2017 Chevrolet Grand Sport Corvette
Holley EFI GTL Class:
Mike DuSold, 1967 Chevrolet Camaro
GTV Class:
Chris Smith, 1970 Chevrolet Camaro
Outlaw Class Champion:
Cody Mason, 2018 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Series Points Champion:
Mike DuSold, 1967 Chevrolet Camaro
“Back for its 12th year, the OPTIMA Search for the Ultimate Street Car series has continued to evolve as we now have over 100 cars participating in the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational,” said Cam Douglass, director of marketing at OPTIMA Batteries, Clarios. “As the popularity of the series continues to grow, we are thrilled to see so many new cars and competitors from all over the country compete in this event.”
The 2019 OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational put competitors and their vehicles to the test through a series of challenges, including the Lucas Oil Road Rally, QA1 Autocross, Falken Tire Road Course Time Trial, PowerStop Speed Stop Challenge and the Lingenfelter Design and Engineering Competition.
Each competitor received points as they competed in the challenges; their scores were totaled to determine the winner in each category. This year, Austin Barnes took second place overall competing in a 2010 Dodge Viper, and Jordan Priestley came in third place in a 2017 Chevrolet C7 Grand Sport Corvette. The top three winners for the individual competitions are listed below:
QA1 Autocross
- First place: Austin Barnes, 2010 Dodge Viper
- Second place: Mike DuSold, 1967 Chevrolet Camaro
- Third place: Thomas Smith, 2005 Subaru STI
Falken Tire Hot Lap Challenge
- First place: Austin Barnes, 2010 Dodge Viper
- Second place: Mike DuSold, 1967 Chevrolet Camaro
- Third place: Thomas Smith, 2005 Subaru STI
PowerStop Brakes Speed Stop Challenge
- First place: Bob Sobey, 2013 Nissan GTR
- Second place: Steve Kepler, 2013 Nissan GTR
- Third place: John Laughlin, 2019 Tesla Model 3
Lingenfelter Performance Design and Engineering Competition
- First place: Mike DuSold, 1967 Chevrolet Camaro
- Second place: Chris Smith, 1970 Chevrolet Camaro
- Third place: Jim McIlvaine, 1969 Mercury Cyclone
The 2019 OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational will be broadcast on MAVTV on December 6 at 8 p.m. ET.