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The USCA Delivers a Pentathlon of Performance Driving in Portland
This past weekend, August 1-2, 2014, performance driving enthusiasts from all over the Pacific Northwest and beyond descended upon Portland International Raceway for the USCA’s seventh performance driving event. Drivers left it all on the track in hopes of earning a spot in OPTIMA’s Ultimate Street Car Invitational taking place this November in Las Vegas, NV. Participants tested their skills in a pentathlon across two days and got the experience of a lifetime.
On Friday morning drivers were given some time to familiarize themselves with the Ridetech Autocross course as they walked the blacktop and examined the layout. After the walk around, cars were examined by industry professionals at the Lingenfelter Design and Engineering Challenge where they were scored on both aesthetic design and functional performance. Once the judges had their final say about each entry, the ground shook as the 40 Participants fired up their street cars and headed for the start of the Willwood Disc Brakes Speed Stop and Ridetch Autocross Challenge where they made pass after pass as they attempted to set the fastest time of the weekend in their class.
After tearing up the course for hours, drivers took to the street for the 70 mile Detroit Speed, Inc. Road Rally. Along the way the group stopped at Vista House and Crown Point for photos, and ended the rally at Stagecoach Saloon where event goers would fill the bar to capacity to eat, drink, and check out the premier of MAV TV’s OPTIMA’s Search for the Ultimate Street Car.
As the sun rose over the track on Saturday morning, the drivers got ready for the start of the BF Goodrich Hot Lap challenge and were eager to hit the track. The pack was split into three run-groups based on skill and experience levels and were staged at the starting line of Portland’s road course. After hours of running the high speed course participants took a break for lunch before heading back on the track for the last half of the road course challenge. At the end of the day, participants had turned a whopping 1,200 combined miles on the road course.
After all of the scores had been calculated, Brian Hobaugh had taken the lead for the GT3K category in his Corvette with a score of 111.967, however because he had already earned an entry into the 2014 OUSCI, second place finisher Duke Langley, who was only a few tenths of a point behind Hobaugh was awarded with his own invitation. Dan Livezey claimed the “W” in the GT2K class in his Corvette with a score of 120.367 and Kijora Dieter-Heinz and his CLA45 AMG scored a 120.467 in the AWD class giving him the number one spot there. Last but not least Jane Thurmond and her beautiful Corvette took home the K&N spirit of the event award and was also the second USCA participant to come out to celebrate her birthday with us. Although she may not have broken any USCA records like Sam Farrington at Gateway, she had a blast and we loved watching her tear up the track representing for all of our female participants.
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