The Optima Ultimate Streetcar Invitational brings out the nation’s best weekend racers, and their cars, to see who has the baddest ride and the hottest shoe, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. With The Strip in the distance and a surprise air show at nearby Nellis Air Force Base, 2014 marked the biggest year for OUSCI, a USCA-sanctioned event, with 103 entrants. And it’s not just a fancy autocross. Instead, it’s a combination of the following:
- Street Driving/Open Road/Rally Competition
- Autocross
- Acceleration/Braking
- Road Course
- Performance/Design Competition
What’s more, all of the entrants have to have their vehicles on display at the SEMA show leading up to the event in some form or another. And the winner of one event doesn’t necessarily mean the overall winner. Whoever performs best as a whole is who eventually takes top honors. And for 2014, that honor goes to Lingenfelter Performance Engineering driver Danny Popp in his 2003 C5 Corvette Z06.
Overall, Popp won the event with an accumulated score of 105.867, narrowly beating Brandon Ranvek and his 2006 Mitsubishi Evo with a score of 105.4. To secure the overall win, Popp took first in the BF Goodrich Hot Lap Challenge and received second place in the Ridetech Street Challenge Autocross. Rounding out the top three was Betim Berisha with his twin-turbo 2011 Porsche 911 with a score of 90.733. Brain Hobaugh, last year’s winner in an amazing 1965 Corvette Stingray, came in sixth. Chevrolet Camaro vehicle dynamics engineer and two-time OUSCI winner Mark Stielow came in at 18th with his new “Hellfire” Camaro. We’re sure he’ll be back next year with that car more dialed in. Overall, 10 Chevrolets came in the top 20.
As for Popp, the win marks his second OUSCI championship, his first being his inaugural appearance in 2011. Also a Chief Driving Instructor for touring performance school 10/10ths Motorsports, Popp has won a combined 12 National Championships through NASA and SCCA, as well as being crowned the Grand Champion title at the Holley LS Fest in 2013, among much more. You can catch the 2014 OUSCI on MavTV come November 21, but until then, below is some footage of Popp’s performance. Also, don’t forget to check our gallery just under the video.
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