Optima news... for SEMA attendees and anyone who is buying a ticket to the Optima Street Car Invitational Finals

· OPTIMA BATTERY COMPLIMENTARY GIVEAWAY and INSTALL (11/1 - 11/2) OPTIMA will be installing its batteries during feature vehicle check-in the weekend before the SEMA Show. Any feature vehicle owner that would like to have an OPTIMA battery can get one and have it installed by experienced OPTIMA team members at no cost! (They did this last year too!)

· NEW vehicle display to check out: OPTIMA STREET CAR ALLEY For the first time, this one-of-a-kind vehicle display will be located between the Westgate Hotel and Casino (formerly the Las Vegas Hotel) and the Las Vegas Convention Center North Hall. Many of the 100 OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational vehicle contenders will be on display here for the duration of the SEMA show.
(If you recall, last year a lot of the Optima Street Car Invitational cars were over in the tire and rims area on the west end of the parking lot)

· Attend to hear the FINAL Announcements: OPTIMA INVITATIONAL PRESS CONFERENCE (Thursday, November 6 at 1:30 p.m.  11/6 @ 1:30pm PT) The seventh annual OPTIMA Invitational Press Conference will be held at the OPTIMA BATTERIES booth (22755) in the Central Hall on.  Join us to hear the exciting announcements about final participants, new event activities, broadcast series updates, and more!



One qualifying event remains, the Ultimate Street Car Association event at the Pittsburgh International Race Complex on October 3-5. http://driveusca.com/events/wampum-pa-october-3-5/

OPTIMA® Batteries is proud to announce the first round of participants for the highly-anticipated 2014 OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational, taking place the weekend of November 8-9. For the first time in its seven year history the OPTIMA Invitational will occur at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and will feature approximately 100 vehicles making it the largest field to ever compete for the prestigious title of Ultimate Street Car.

“The vehicles participating in this year’s event is phenomenal. We’ve got some brand new 2014 models and some vintage cars from the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s, too. There’s a wide range of American cars, but plenty of European and Japanese entries are also competing. We are very proud of the diversity here,” says Cam Douglass, director of product development and marketing for OPTIMA Batteries. “It’s impossible to pick a favorite to win as we head into the 2014 SEMA show. Surely, the Golden Ticket winners selected from the show floor will be contenders to win as well.”

 Spectator tickets to the seventh annual OPTIMA Invitational will be available for purchase online. The cost is $30 per person, which includes a free event T-shirt.

 The first 37 qualified drivers and their vehicles are listed below: (3 new Camaros, 3 1st gen Camaros,  5 new Corvettes and 4 2nd gen Corvettes, 2 GT-Rs) 
Surprises new to the event, a Fairmont, a Neon, a Volvo, and a Conquest
· Ken Thwaits (2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28)
· Danny Popp (2003 Chevrolet Corvette)
· Kyle Tucker (1970 Chevrolet Camaro)
· Dan Howe (1984 Chevrolet Monte Carlo)
· Ronnie Soliman (2006 Mitsubishi Evo IX)
· Bob Bertelsen (1969 Chevrolet C-10)
· AJ Santiago (2011 Nissan GT-R)
· Andy Smedegard (2001 Honda S2000)
· Dan Livezy (1964 Chevrolet Corvette)
· Betim Berisha (2011 Porsche 911 TT)
· John Lazorack III (1988 Chrysler Conquest)
· Ricky Kwan (2012 Nissan GT-R)
· Bryan Johnson (2013 Chevrolet Camaro)
· Jane Thurmond (1964 Chevrolet Corvette)
· Robert Jackson (1967 Volvo Amazon)
· Mark Frazier (1971 Datsun 240Z)
· Jeff Montgomery (1963 Chevrolet Corvette)
· Karl Dunn (2002 Chevrolet Corvette)
· Martin Pond (1980 Ford Fairmont)
· Duke Langley (2012 Chevrolet Corvette)
· Jake Rozelle (1969 Chevrolet Camaro)
· Casey Wallace (2011 Nissan GT-R)
· Todd Earsley (2003 Mitsubishi Evo VIII)
· Rodney Prouty (1968 Chevrolet Camaro)
· Michael “Junior” Johnson (2006 Chevrolet Corvette)
· Steve Kepler (2013 Nissan GT-R)
· Jakey Sampson (2010 Chevrolet Camaro)
· Brandon Ranvek (2006 Mitsubishi Evo RS)
· Terry Fair (2011 Ford Mustang)
· Mike Maier (1966 Ford Mustang)
· Wes Drelleshak (1959 Chevrolet Apache)
· Michael Werner (2008 Mercedes CLK63)
· Dieter-Heinz Kijora (2014 Mercedes AMG CLA250)
· Debbie Farrington (1964 Chevrolet Chevelle Wagon)
· Todd Rumpke (2006 Chevrolet Corvette)
· Douglas Wind (2004 Dodge Neon SRT-4)
· Matt Alcala (2012 Shelby Mustang)
· Defending 2013 Champion Bryan Hobaugh will also be competing with his 1965 Chevrolet Corvette.

https://www.youtube.com/user/optimabatteries
https://www.facebook.com/optimabatteries?fref=ts
http://www.optimabatteries.com/en-us/experience/optima-invitational/

7th annual 2014 Optima Street Car Invitational Challenge finals in Las Vegas (100 cars this year) at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, tickets are $30

Begins Friday night with the Detroit Speed and Engineering Road Rally from SEMA at the close of the event Friday afternoon at 4pm  to the SEMA Ignited car show at the LINQ (Big wheel) beginning at 4 until 10 pm between Flamingo Rd and Sands Ave on Koval (one block South of the strip/Las Vegas Blvd and one block North of Paradise Rd (which is the road that the convention center is on) a block and a half West of the convention center.

The SEMA Ignited is a free event that is open to the public, will have a dyno challenge, burnout competition, man made snow (Seriously how long will that remain frozen before melting?!) road course for SEMA cars, http://pages.message.sema.org/SEMAIgnited/#faq

There will be 2 Golden Ticket cars chosen at SEMA for the Optima Street Car Invitational, held at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, about 15 minutes North East of Las Vegas on the 15North

The ticket to the Optima Street Car Invitational is good for the whole weekend, and the prime events will be ongoing all weekend so that each car can get a "best possible time" for each of the events;
BFGoodrich Hot Lap Challenge,
Ridetech Street Challenge Autocross,
Wilwood Disc Brakes Speed Stop Challenge,
and the Lingenfelter Performance Engineering Performance Design Challenge.

IMPORTANT parking information: All spectator parking will be on-site just off Las Vegas Blvd. Shuttles will transport guests to the competitive activities. Guest registration opens at 8:30 a.m. each day, with events beginning at 9:30 AM.

It will be taped and editted for broadcast a couple months later (like last year) on MAVTV

Info, map, and ticket purchase at
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2014-optima-ultimate-street-car-invitational-tickets-12857381775

2 months until the 2014 Optima Challenge! This year in Las Vegas at the Motor Speedway

The OPTIMA Invitational will bring together a diverse field of 100 competitors; the largest number of competing vehicles in the event’s seven year history. The participant field is based on the results of the successful national series of OPTIMA Invitational Qualifying events and the corresponding MAVTV network series called OPTIMA’s Search for the Ultimate Street Car by putting them through timed challenges in the
BFGoodrich Hot Lap Challenge,
Ridetech Street Challenge Autocross,
Wilwood Disc Brakes Speed Stop Challenge
and the Lingenfelter Performance and Design Challenge (probably not a timed thing)  all bringing different aspects to each participant’s overall score.

Each ticket costs $30  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2014-optima-ultimate-street-car-invitational-tickets-12857381775  and includes one 2014 OPTIMA Invitational t-shirt that guests will receive at the event.

Gates open at 8:30 a.m. on November 8, with competition events beginning at 9:30 a.m. The Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located just 15 minutes North East of downtown Las Vegas, is easily accessible for attendees of the SEMA Show just off the I-15, and is the perfect competitive venue for the year's most exciting street car event.

It will be broadcast on the MAVTV Network later in November, but to see even more of the action and excitement now, check out video clips from past events on the OPTIMA Batteries YouTube page http://www.youtube.com/user/optimabatteries , visit the OPTIMA Invitational website http://www.optimabatteries.com/en-us/experience/optima-invitational/ to see driver profiles and news, or visit the OPTIMA Batteries Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/optimabatteries?fref=ts to join the conversation.

Come for the cool variety of GREAT cars, bring your cool RV!

For a look at last years races, cars, etc: