The Cadillac of today isn’t just some stogy and dated luxury brand. Not a chance; because with cars like the CTS-V, Cadillac has established itself as a premier performance luxury nameplate that can take on the best the world has to offer, and now there is finally a sanctioned all-Cadillac race series to display just what the Caddys of today are all about at their core; going fast.

The Cadillac Challenge Series presented by Toyo Tires & the D3 Group was kicked off at the end of February with their inaugural event held at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, where 16 Cadillac CTS-V’s ranging from bone-stock to wildly modified took to the track. The Cadillac Challenge Series is a unique, first of its kind all-Cadillac race series, made up of a total of 9 events to be held throughout 2012 at some of America’s most iconic racetracks; including Laguana Seca, Buttonwillow, Infineon, and Willow Springs.

Racers are divided into three different classes based on which generation CTS-V they are driving, what the tread-wear rating is on their tires, and for 1st Gen’s whether or not they are using forced induction. (Check out the Speed Ventures website for a full break down of the series classes and rules.) The series follows a “Time Attack” format, where competitors are looking to run the fastest lap of their class, rather than racing wheel-to-wheel to be the first across the finish line.

Round 1 of the Cadillac Challenge Series brought out some of the big-boys of the CTS-V world; including the guys from CTSVRACING.com, Leonard Renick of Renick Motorsports in his CTS-V Wagon, Team Legionnare running the D3 CTS-V Coupe, and the new Heavyweight Racing 2010 CTS-V Coupe. But this series isn’t just about the big-boys; plenty of regular guys and gals came to play as well. In fact, at the end of several intense and hard-fought sessions, driver Steve Collins stood atop the C1 Showroom Stock Class in his 2012 CTS-V Coupe by simply out-driving the competition with a best lap of 2:00.392. In the C2 Modified Class, Alan Cohen of CTSVRACING.com narrowly beat out Fontana veteran Karim T. with a lap time of 1:57.448.

In the C3 Unlimited Modified Class, it was all Team Heavyweight Racing’s new 2010 CTS-V all day. Heavyweight’s Bob Michaels set the tone early by running a scalding 1:57 lap time on Toyo Proxes Street Tires, then got serious by bolting on a set of Toyo R888’s. With race-spec grip on the race-prepped Heavyweight CTS-V, Michaels effortlessly churned out the fastest lap times of the day, routinely hitting 1:55 per lap.

Be sure to check out the video re-cap to get a taste of the Cadillac Challenge Series for yourself. The Cadillac Challenge Series action continues with the second round set to be held on March 24th, at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, in Chuckwalla, California. There are still 8 races to go in the Cadillac Challenge Series, and it’s not too late to register your own “V” to compete in any of the events, so grab your SFI approved helmet, and let’s go racing!