2019 OUSCI Points Entries After Six Events

Just one regular season event remains in OPTIMA's 2019 Search for the Ultimate Street Car, presented by Advance Auto Parts. That gives us a pretty good idea of how things are shaping up for invitations to the 2019 SEMA Show and OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational (OUSCI), presented by Advance Auto Parts. As a refresher for those who may be unfamiliar with the series or forgotten the format, invitations to the OUSCI are handed out to the top finisher in each class at each of seven qualifying events.

If the class winner has already received an invitation at a previous qualifying event, the invitation goes to the next-highest finisher, who has not yet received an invitation. Once the qualifying events wrap up, invitations are also awarded to the top-three competitors in each class, who have not already received an invitation. After those invitations are handed out, ten additional invitations are awarded to the top remaining non-qualifiers, regardless of the class they compete in.

The idea behind awarding at-large invitations in that manner is that some classes (like states in the USA) are larger and/or more competitive than others. By awarding three invitations for a total of ten to each class, we ensure at least ten competitors from every class will be represented at SEMA and the OUSCI. By handing out ten at-large invitations regardless of class affiliation, we ensure good representation from the classes that were larger or had deeper fields in them.

The at-large projections we are sharing now are definitely subject to change, as competitors may see their name lower on the list than they'd like or not see it at all and decide to try to get into the final sold-out qualifier of the year at NOLA Motorsports Park. Keep in mind, we're not mentioning the three projected class invitations from each class in the list below, just the ten at-large entries, as well as the first five out. In addition to naming the Driver, Vehicle, Class and their projected points, we'll also mention how their position may have shifted since we looked at the standings after the previous qualifying event.

So where did these drivers come from, who weren't listed after the previous qualifier and where did some of the names go that were listed? Well, as cars earned invitations in Fontana, California, they moved off the lists and subsequently moved up other cars that were on the list. There were also competitors, like Kevin Schultz, who struggled in his first qualifier of the season in his Porsche 996 and came back to post two very strong finishes in his second two events, which leapfrogged him ahead of a lot of folks.

So short of someone on this list coming out and running better than these projections at NOLA Motorsports Park, how else could they potentially move up on the list? The same way as the previous event- if cars ahead of them earn invitations and they move up the list as a result. Is there a way to potentially move down or entirely off the list? Maybe. We tried to be conservative and predict that the event invitations would go to people who weren't on the list and were only running one or two events this season, like Kyle Tucker or Terry Fair. However, if competitors in that first five out group or below, decide they need to run again and perform well, they could move up and potentially shuffle people back.

It will all be settled the first weekend of October at NOLA Motorsports Park and then we'll move on to Las Vegas for the 2019 SEMA Show and the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car invitational, presented by Advance Auto Parts. Learn more about the series at www.DriveOPTIMA.com