Welcome to the Show!

Get the show in Apple Podcasts!

Welcome to the Optima Search For the Ultimate Street Car Series Podcast! This show is produced twice-per-month show and will be a great way to keep people informed on everything going on, from rules discussions, to event coverage, and to feature interviews with competitors and people of interest!

The show is hosted by myself (Rob Kibbe) and Race Director Jimi Day. Our goal is to bring you all of the latest and greatest information possible…plus have plenty of fun along with way. Feel free to e-mail us with feedback and questions, and we’ll work as many of them can into the show!

-Rob Kibbe (mailto:robert@themusclecarplace.com) & Jimi Day (jimi@driveusca.com)

Rob Kibbe

Jimi Day

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Presented by Forgeline!

We are incredibly proud to announce that Forgeline Motorsports has also returned to the OSUSC Podcast show for 2024! Forgeline has been a staple among OSUSC competitors, and their incredible wheels are as well engineered (and race tested) as they are beautiful.

Stay tuned to future shows to hear more from Forgline, and be sure to visit their website and give them a call for all of your competition wheel needs!

www.forgeline.com
Phone: (800) 886-0093

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“Super Dave” Schotz:
From Lost Licenses to GT Title Hunts —
Inside OUSC’s Most Relatable Assassin

What happens when a kid raised on Road & Track turns a lifetime of “go faster” into one of the most complete résumés in grassroots motorsports? You get Dave “Super Dave” Schotz — our feature guest this week on the Optima Ultimate Street Car Series podcast. Dave’s story has it all: magazine-fueled dreams, multiple states’ worth of “learning experiences” behind the wheel, a father-son autocross habit that never quit, and a relentless climb that led to 17 NASA National Championships and a reputation for smiling while he’s quietly destroying your lap time.

Dave walks us through the path: early autocross in a Ford Ranger (yes, really), swapping into an ’88 5.0 Mustang with his dad, then going all-in on competition. He road-raced for over a decade, snagged SCCA Runoffs Rookie of the Year (2005), and even fielded pro-level calls (including Craftsman Truck opportunities) that he wisely weighed against real-life responsibilities. Along the way, he sampled the Viper Challenge era, learned why those early Vipers were equal parts thunder and geometry, and became the guy teams call for endurance stints when they need speed and mechanical sympathy.

So why Ultimate Street Car? A blown airbag during testing in his Callaway Camaro (long story, great one) led Dave to an OUSC weekend in Vegas “just to try it.” Hook set. The mix of autocross, road course, speed stop, road rally, and Design & Engineering hit every nerve. He’s been a Camaro-platform lifer here since — meticulously preparing D&E like a hot lap (yes, he literally rehearses his presentation like a driver visualizing a course), and chasing points with the same intensity he brings to the driving segments. His GT goal this season: three-peat the class title, be the fastest on the autocross and road course at OUSCI, crack top-five in Speed Stop against the AWD monsters, and nail a perfect 100-point D&E on the biggest stage.

What makes Dave resonate is balance. He admits he “races what I can afford to wreck,” keeps the street-car soul (stereo and all) in his OSUSC build, and still treats seat time and simplicity as the best “driver mods.” He shares credit with family — dad at nearly every event, son at ASU getting ready to jump in deeper — and he approaches controversy the same way he approaches a late-braking zone: clear-headed, respectful, solution-oriented. It’s why the “Super Dave” nickname (coined after he topped both autocross and road course his first OSUSC weekend) stuck… and why his peers keep rooting for him even as he’s beating them.

Thanks, Dave!

-Rob & Jimi