Mike DuSold’s 1967 Camaro Wins the 2018 OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational

• The RacingJunk Editors


• 7 Nov 2018

Mike DuSold’s 1967 Chevrolet Camaro has been crowned the 2018 OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car following an impressive performance at the 11^th annual OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational, presented by Advance Auto Parts, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last weekend. This same formidable car took home the top prize at LS Fest.

”It feels pretty surreal to be the 2018 OUSCI winner,” said DuSold. “Five years ago, when I first started competing, it was my goal to someday win. A lot of my friends said I would never get here and it was too hard of a goal to shoot for, but today I proved them wrong and did it. It’s been a challenge and has pushed me to the brink more than once, so getting here feels very good.”

The class winners are:

• QA1 GTV class
  • Efrain Diaz, 1969 Chevrolet Camaro
• Franklin Road Apparel GT Class:
  • Johnathan Belvins, 2008 Ford Mustang
• RECARO GTS Class:
  • Austin Barnes, 2010 Dodge Viper
• Holley EFI GTL Class:
  • Mike Dusold, 1967 Chevrolet Camaro
• GTE Class:
  • Matthew Scott, 2017 Hyundai Ioniq
• GTC Class
  • Brian Johns, 1993 Mazda RX7

Vehicles entering the 2018 OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational face a number of challenges, including the LucasOilRacing.TV Road Rally, Detroit Speed Autocross, Falken Tire Road Course Time Trial, PowerStop Speed Stop Challenge and the Lingenfelter Design and Engineering Competition.

Each competitor’s score, determined by their performance in the challenges, were added up to determine each category’s winner. Austin Barnes took second place overall this year with a 2010 Dodge Viper, while Ken Thwaits came in third in a 2006 Mitsubishi Evo, which won the title last year. The top three winners for the individual competitions are listed below:

Detroit Speed Autocross

• First place: Danny Popp, 2003 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
• Second place: Austin Barnes, 2010 Dodge Viper
• Third place: Mike DuSold, 1967 Chevrolet Camaro

PowerStop Brakes Speed Stop Challenge

• First place: Austin Barnes, 2010 Dodge Viper
• Second place: Mike DuSold, 1967 Chevrolet Camaro
• Third place: Danny Popp, 2003 Chevrolet Corvette Z06

Falken Tire Hot Lap Challenge

• First place: Austin Barnes, 2010 Dodge Viper
• Second place: Danny Popp, 2003 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
• Third place: Eric Fleming, 2016 Chevrolet Corvette

Lingenfelter Performance Design and Engineering Competition

• First place: Mike DuSold, 1967 Chevrolet Camaro
• Second place: Ken Thwaits, 2006 Mitsubishi Evo
• Third place: Randy Johnson, 1969 Mercury Cyclone

The 2018 OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational will be broadcast on MAVTV on November 30, 8 p.m. ET/PT. For more information about the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational and the 2019 OPTIMA Search for the Ultimate Street Car Series, visit DriveOPTIMA.com