For the last couple of years, the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Challenge has taken place across the USA to see who has the fastest street-legal car across a variety of different events. As one of the main events at SEMA, the world’s biggest aftermarket trade expo and custom car show, it has attracted some wild machinery. I think this event originally came to Australia in 2019 but it didn’t come back again until 2023 for obvious reasons, so after my brother told me about it via Adrian Portelli’s Instagram, I had to see what the fuss was all about. I remember watching some videos of it from SEMA in either 2022 or 2023, so if it’s a big deal there, it’ll surely be a big deal here with some truly unique cars. Unfortunately, I would be lying if I gave it a 100% positive review because the facility chosen was Calder Park – a track that’s honestly mediocre at best. It did detract from the overall viewing experience but I don’t want to take anything away from the cars that showed up because some of them were great.
The first two challenges of the day were the “Auto Test” and “Speed Stop”, which is described as “a short sprint through the drag-strip burnout box into a tight 180, where a series of bollards must be navigated as quickly as possible before screeching to a halt in the brake box”. I didn’t even bother seeing the cars tackle the Speed Stop as it was right down the other end of the track, and most people had gathered at the start of the Auto Test right next to the Thunderdome, which had it’s own drift event for some reason. The Auto Test is just a fancy name for auto cross or gymkhana, where cars negotiate some tight corners, heavy braking zones and cones in the fastest time possible. Happily, I got a decent view of the action as the cars launched and worked their way around the bottom end of the circuit. Not everyone knew which way to go, as demonstrated by one competitor in a Torana, but the most exciting moment was Adrian Portelli almost losing his McLaren P1 whilst accelerating out of the hairpin. You also had a big purple Dodge Challenger Hellcat that was by far the loudest car there, and probably not the most obvious choice for a tight, technical course. Being centimeters away behind the concrete barriers was fun though.
Once all the competitors had done their Auto Test and Speed Stop, they went into the pit area for some lunch and a small tune up for the Hot Lap challenge around the full road circuit, complete with a long front straight courtesy of the drag strip. Now, this pit area is pretty small compared to Sandown with only a handful of garages, and I honestly don’t know how it sufficed in the past when V8 Supercars came. Fortunately for this event, the pit area was big enough to fit everyone in because they didn’t come with a massive crew and spare parts. A few cars that had not entered in the event proper were on display, but it was a small selection that felt a bit weak. Still, this break gave me chance to take a closer look at the competitor’s cars.
One of the best things about this event was being able to see all the cars lining up on the dummy grid before heading onto the track. It was probably the best location to take photos of the cars, which is funny because you’d think that the pits would be the best spot. Anyway, if you want to know what Ultimate Street Car is all about, this selection of images will demonstrate it very clearly.
Before the hot laps started, I dashed down to the drag strip end of the track as I had done earlier in the hopes that I could take some good photos, but I was unable to go further than the marshal post because there wasn’t any fencing. That ruined things for me but I understand the safety risk, so I sat behind the fence as the first few cars came by. I tried moving right up to the fence and poking my camera through a hole in the wires, but I couldn’t get close enough. After this little setback, I quickly considered my options and decided to scale the spectator mound overlooking the circuit. I thought beauty, this is a top spot for some photos, but then I discovered another problem – my camera’s zoom wasn’t good enough. The resulting pictures looked like this:
They aren’t BAD photos but for my standards, they just weren’t good enough. With the limited resources I had, I couldn’t make it work and that left me feeling rather disappointed. At the same time though, I wasn’t surprised because Calder Park isn’t the most modern facility and access is far too limited nowadays. The sad state of rack and ruin can be traced back to the early 90’s when ANDRA (Australian National Drag Racing Association) left after a bitter dispute with former track owner Bob Jane. They basically said “stuff you mate” and ditched Calder completely. As mentioned earlier, the track did play host V8 Supercars (the first ever race of the original formula was held there at night) but they too buggered off after a few years. Since then, the facility has hardly changed. Apart from a repave of the racing surfaces and a fresh coat of paint on the buildings, the track is in dire need of a revamp. Compared to Sandown, it’s pretty poor and that’s a damn shame because it does have potential. Someone needs to buy the track and redevelop the whole thing because the state government won’t do it. With soo many car enthusiasts in Melbourne, there’s no reason why we can’t come together and save this venue from oblivion. After a terrifying ride down the mound, I went down to ground zero for a few more photos and then left because I couldn’t see the cars driving around the track behind the concrete fences. Oh well. It was something.
Sorry to end things on such a sour note but this event really deserves better considering how big it is in the US. If it wasn’t for the selection of cars, this would’ve been a total bust, hence why I’m giving it an average review and not totally slamming it as a disaster. I don’t want people to look at this and think that I’m expressing a severe hatred towards the organisers, because I don’t want to spread that kind of stuff around. I want to promote healthy and constructive dialogue to make each event as good as it can be.
DevMacCars 