OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car series is a car lover’s dream. I caught up with Jim McIlvaine of OPTIMA Batteries, who gave me the scope on this series.

Q. How did the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car series get started?

A. It was born out of the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. My boss, Cam Douglass, and Jimi Day noticed at the SEMA Show that many vehicles had Bluetooth drive shafts or the radiators weren’t hooked up. They would just be pushed in and out of the showroom. 

At OPTIMA, we are in the aftermarket. You want people to not only buy, but also use your products. We wanted people to showcase cars that can drive and go on track. Not just get pushed into a showroom. 

The first event was in 2009 at Spring Mountain. It had 30 cars; half didn’t finish the event, but the response was immediate. People wanted to build cars to compete in the next year. It exploded from there.

Q. What are the rules for entering?

A. We want people to showcase legitimate street cars. They must have 200 treadwear tires, a full interior, and be licensed, titled, and insured. 

Q. What are the competitions at each event?

A. A road rally held on public roads, an auto cross, the Peak Performance Challenge is 1/8 mile drag into a hairpin turn, then a hard acceleration and stop in a 40-foot box without knocking over any cones, and the Falken Tire road course. 

The design & engineering challenge is the car show portion. You have four minutes to show the judges your car. The top cars go to the SEMA Show in Las Vegas.

Q. How do you get invited to the SEMA Show? 

A. You have to win your class at a qualifying event or earn enough points during the season. We don’t want the person with the biggest checkbook to go to all seven events to rack up points. Your two best weekends are counted towards your point total. SEMA allows us to do this on the condition that legitimate street cars win the classes. These aren’t gutted track cars in this series. The nicest cars at SEMA compete in our series. 

We stress a safe, fun, and friendly environment—drivers who epitomize that can receive the Summit Racing Spirit of the Event Invitation. 

Q. How does someone sign up?

A. www.driveoptima.com is where you can sign up. You need basic safety equipment, but not a specific vehicle. Most people haven’t raced before. At our last event, a guy brought his stock Ford Explorer. He had never raced before, but now he’s hooked.

Image via the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Series