Ultimate Street Car Association opens registration for 2014 season

Back in November, the Ultimate Street Car Association was announced at SEMA as a national race series to oversee the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational and Qualifying. Registration is now open for the first event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Those of you who picked up any tuner mag from the last six years will remember the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational, which played host to some incredible cars -- and demonstrated an overwhelming bias toward Camaros, it turns out. The Invitational Series was open to road racers and cars that had been showcased at SEMA, but the rules have changed. This new sanctioning body will allow anyone with a street legal car to participate in a three-day-weekend's worth of autocrossing, road rallying, and top speed and road course events -- all for a chance to be on television and make it to Las Vegas.

That's right: You, dear Autoweek reader, could risk life and limb for a veritable orgy of motorsport at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Texas Motor Speedway, Daytona, Sebring, or Road America as part of the "Optima Ultimate Street Car Qualifying Series." Cars that rack up the most points at each event will be invited to Las Vegas at the end of the year for the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational. All 10 events will be televised on action-themed MAVTV, which is a network owned by Lucas Oil.

The first event starts at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on March 7; you can register on the USCA's official website. Each event will cost $500 for all three days (USCA members get $25 off), or spectators can pay $50 and still enter the Lingenfelter Design & Engineering Challenge.

You don't even need to own a Camaro, but it helps.

By Blake Z. Rong