OPTIMA Search for the Ultimate Street Car rolled in to Colorado the second week of July and set up shop at Pike’s Peak International Raceway greeted by host and PPIR’s owner, Bob Boileau. |
OPTIMA Search for the Ultimate Street Car rolled into Colorado the second week of July and set up shop at Pike’s Peak International Raceway for the fifth event in the series taking place on July 9th & 10th, marking the halfway point for those folks chasing the points championship. This is the second year that PPIR’s owner, Bob Boileau, hosted this event and it was everything our AIRAID Race Team Driver’s, Brian Hobaugh and Jordan Priestley had hoped for! Thunder, lightning, rain, hail, and record breaking heat greeted the drivers on their way into town. Bob, the consummate host, was ready and waiting at PPIR to make his guests feel welcome.
Hobaugh and father, Steve, taking the necessary steps to fix the water pump and get back in the race. |
AIRAID driver Brian Hobaugh has long been affiliated with the brand and his performance never disappoints. However, Brian had a couple of hiccups this past weekend with his 2003 Chevrolet Corvette Z06. A less than cooperative water pump pulley, only two runs in to Saturday’s autocross, had Brian and father, Steve, locating an auto parts store in Colorado Springs. Fortunately, Hobaugh was able to lay down two very competitive lap times, with his fastest a 42.310 earning him a second place finish for GTS Class in Autocross. While inconvenienced by the mechanical difficulty, that didn’t stop our AIRAID Team Driver. After the lunch break, Brian was back in the driver’s seat, kicking butt at the Speed Stop Challenge with his quickest time of 16.035, less than 2/10th’s of a second off the leader for GTS Class.
We found Brian taking a moment to get away from the heat and plan for the next race segment. |
The third element in this event is the Lingenfelter Design & Engineering Challenge. Always a crowd favorite, the 2003 Corvette Z06 again pleased the judges securing Hobaugh 2nd place with 94 points behind challenger Glen Barnhouse who deservedly earned 97 points for his 2012 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport. Brian is our points leader in the GTS Class with 1391 points. Currently registered for two more events, COTA and NOLA, we're looking forward to see if he can rack up a few more points to put him in the front spot for the overall points championship!
"EVILYNN" sporting the 3-D printed prototype of AIRAID’s newest intake for the 6th Gen Camaro! |
Jordan Priestley, another member of the AIRAID Race Team for the 2016 season, was behind the wheel of his 2016 6th Gen Camaro SS, affectionately named “Evilynn”. Ranked second in his class, GT, with 1350 points, Priestley has been involved in some type of motor sports for years. He bears a trusted name and for companies that sponsor him, like Detroit Speed & Engineering and of course AIRAID, his input is invaluable when it comes to Research & Development. We caught up with Jordan at PPIR and per usual he was his kind, calm, cool and collected self. He shared that at this event he would be testing some new DSE suspension pieces and running a 3-D printed/prototype AIRAID Cold Air Intake system designed for the 6th generation of Camaro’s. To say our driver had a lot on the line at Pike’s Peak International Raceway would almost be an understatement!
Brian Hobaugh skillfully maneuvering his Z06 around Pike’s Peak International Raceway oval! |
In typical Priestley fashion, our driver, who qualified for OUSCI earlier this season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, swept up on the podium. He’s no rookie to the OSUSC Events and brings four years of experience with this series to Pike’s Peak. Jordan’s performance was nothing short of stellar seemingly walked away from his competition. He started Day 1 at the Speed Stop Challenge and laid down his fastest time of 16.390 securing him a solid second place finish in the GT class with 26 competitors. PPIR Driving Instructor, Mark Legg, got him by almost 2/10th's of a second with his fastest time of 16.200, in his light and nimble 2011 BMW 1M Coupe. In fact, Legg would prove to be a worthy adversary at the autocross as well earning another 1st place finish with a lap time of 42.346. Jordan answered back with his fastest time of 42.504, just 2/10th’s of this winning time! But Design & Engineering would prove to favor our AIRAID Driver. Jordan and “Evilynn” would drive away with 93 points, safely earning him a 1st place for this segment. Must’ve been that AIRAID 3-D printed prototype intake under the hood!
Jordan Priestley in his 2016 6th Gen Camaro SS, “Evilynn” killin’ it on the autocross course! |
As the day's competitive segments came to a close the air was still hot and showed no signs of cooling down before the drivers would participate in the fourth element of this weekend, the Road Rally. After a quick Drivers Meeting the group rallied and would head out to Manitou, home to Garden of the Gods, to reach their check point. This element, while not competitive, is still crucial to the overall score. The Road Rally requires that each participant has a car that is capable of running on the surface streets and highway. Proving that is truly is a street car! And to see more than fifty muscle cars caravanning on the Colorado Highway was pretty impressive. And yes people were gawking and taking photos!
Jordan Priestley, center stage, accepting the overall win in GT Class with fellow competitors, Aaron Sockwell and Cliff Elliot. |
The drivers returned to the track after the rally and enjoyed a delicious BBQ dinner and an opportunity to share stories of the day!
Brian Hobaugh feeling great about the weekends final results, looking forward to COTA! |
As the sun came up on day 2 of the OSUSC Event at Pike’s Peak International Raceway, drivers were scurrying to get their transponders installed and get ready for Hot Lap Challenge on the road course. No strangers to this type of competition or speed, Hobaugh and Priestly, ran in the Expert Run Group. Unfortunately, early on Brian experienced issues with his ABS system that had him running a little more cautious in the first run sessions. However, he and father, Steve, got everything sorted out for the Hot Lap Challenge. Brian came in with a very respectable 1.03.897 lap time earning him a second place finish. He was just one second behind Lynn Proctor in his 2005 Dodge Viper, with a lap time of 1.02.801. Jordan would continue to improve as the day went on. Considering he was running the new DSE suspension and AIRAID intake, and that PPIR was acting as the “testing” ground of said components, he was thrilled with the outcome. Seriously, who wouldn’t be thrilled with First Place! In fact, his fastest lap time of 1.03.13 was a full 2 seconds ahead of his closest competitor! Pretty impressive stuff!
These gentlemen will find themselves in Austin, Texas, at Circuit of the Americas, in just a few short weeks to battle it out with 90 other competitors at the 7th event of the OSUSC series. This could be the event for that propels Jordan to First Place in the GT Class for the points championship. And for Brian, it could be the event that increases the gap between him and second place in GTS Class. Or maybe the event that brings them closer to becoming 2016 Points Champion! No matter, these men will be competing at a World Class venue and we'll be there to watch what happens and cheer them on! Congratulations to both of you, Brian and Jordan, for your success at Pike's Peaks International Raceway.
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