Really they bumped the mininum tread wear rating to 200 from 180?
Yup, all street and street touring classes have a 200TW minimum at national events. I believe some local clubs still allow the 140TW stuff, but from my experience, the current crop of 200TW stuff tends to be as good if not better than the 140's.
re-71r's are top of the heap followed by the rival-s. past that it's the rs3(soon followed by the rs4 within a season), and the federal from what i have seen and driven on.
IMO, if you're looking to be top of the pack, the bridgestone is where you need to be, or the rival if you run primarily on concrete.
I'll be on the re-71r's to start the season, and may have a set of the rivals to run at national events on concrete(i.e. the nationals at Lincoln, NE)
keep in mind, this is at the pointy end of the stick. If you're just out to have fun, any 200TW tire is going to give you a good place to start getting used to autox.
ninja edit: looks like nexen may have a good option as well for us.