Want to see the nation’s hottest muscle cars and hot rods compete in a special performance driving event? Join us for the 2nd annual OPTIMA Batteries Ultimate Street Car Invitational airing on SPEED TV.



The invitation-only event took place on Saturday, November 7, right on the heels of the SEMA Show. Held on a closed circuit, professional road-racing course at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump, Nevada, the event challenged the finest street machines in the world, showcasing the quality, performance and talent of the country's top builders, manufacturers and car owners.



The event is a combination of styling, driving, handling and acceleration/braking. The goal of the event is to bring up to 50 of the best street cars in the world to the track and put them through their paces highlighting overall design, build quality and performance.



Events including styling, autocross, 0-60-0 and road course hot laps were timed individually (styling was judged) with the overall cumulative times being the final result. The lowest cumulative time for each vehicle, combined with styling points determined the finishing order. Awards were presented to the top three finishers in each event and “The OPTIMA Batteries Ultimate Street Car” award was given to the vehicle posting the lowest cumulative time over the combined events. A 4-judge panel of automotive industry styling and design professionals determined the styling portion of the event with points being awarded on a 1-10 scale (1 being the best and 10 being the worst). Style points were added to the cumulative time for the final result.



Hundreds of car owners submitted entries in hopes of participating in this unique event. OPTIMA and its committee of automotive industry experts, including manufacturers, media, top builders and designers, used strict criteria to select up to 50 participants. This elite group includes some of the most well known drivers and vehicles in the industry. The final choices were made from the show floor at SEMA. For the current list of the OPTIMA Batteries Ultimate Street Car Invitational finalists or more information on the event, visit http://www.optimainvitational.com/



OPTIMA Batteries, the title sponsor and creator of the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational, presented by RideTech and K&N Filters, have joined forces with Brentwood Communications International, Inc. (BCII) and the SPEED™ Network to produce and air an exclusive TV special about the racing competition.



The program, scheduled to air nationally on the SPEED network in 2010 on January 30 and 31, will cover several of the vehicle builds in the days leading up to the competition. During the week of the event, the program will focus on driver appearances at the SEMA Show and all of the racing excitement throughout the competition.



Tune into SPEED TV January 30, 2010 at 11:00am EST and January 31 at 4:00pm EST to see these amazing cars and find out who won the Ultimate Street Car Invitational!