ARA Crowns First-time Winners 1,500 Miles Apart: Olivares and Randall Victorious in Spring Doubleheader
- masonrunkel
- 13 minutes ago
- 9 min read
(Burlington, VT – May 19, 2026) ~ Last weekend, the American Rally Association (ARA) hosted its first double-header weekend of the 2026 season, with two events taking place more than 1,500 miles apart: the Oregon Trail Rally (OTR), an ARA Western Championship Super Regional event based in Goldendale, Washington, and Dufur, Oregon; and the Headwaters Rally, an ARA Central Region regional rally headquartered in Walker, Minnesota.
The events featured a combined 130 high-speed special stage miles across 22 stages, with 67 cars competing. Headwaters was a single-day affair Saturday, May 16, while OTR ran May 16–17, but both rallies featured tight battles throughout the field and brought exciting on-stage action to two of the most active rally communities in the country.
Olivares and Miller Fend Off Escort and Rally3 for Victory at OTR
The Oregon Trail Rally returned to the 2026 ARA calendar as a Super Regional round rather than a National event, as the organizing committee continues rebuilding with the goal of returning to National Championship status in 2027.
Even so, the two-day itinerary retained many of the rally’s signature features, including massive water splashes, expansive views, the famous Boyd Jump, and the only full-length tarmac stages on the ARA calendar.
The 53-car field set off Saturday morning for 95 competition miles across 16 stages of high-speed roads, dramatic elevation changes, and some of the most scenic rallying in the country.
Leading the rally after SS1 was, surprisingly, the Open Two-Wheel-Drive (O2WD) 1968 Ford Escort of John Hill and Jake Blattner, who edged the Element Rallysport Ford Fiesta Rally2 of two-time Limited Four-Wheel-Drive (L4WD) champions Javier Olivares and KJ Miller by 0.9 seconds.
The two wildly different machines battled through most of Saturday before the Rally2 crew moved into a more comfortable lead on SS6. Behind them, Georgie Megennis and Michael Szewczyk sat second overnight in their Ford Fiesta Rally3, just 3.3 seconds behind the leaders, while multi-time Western Regional champions Andy Miller and Shaun Tracy held third in their Naturally Aspirated Four-Wheel-Drive (NA4WD) EZ30-swapped Subaru Impreza WRX STI. The top three were separated by only 18.6 seconds at the end of day one.
Sunday morning saw Olivares immediately begin extending the lead, opening a 33.4-second gap over Megennis by the end of the first loop. Miller then moved into second on the final stage before service, pushing the Rally3 Fiesta into third with four stages remaining.
While Olivares maintained control to the finish, stage wins on SS15 and SS16 allowed Megennis and Szewczyk to reclaim second place on the final stage by just 1.6 seconds over Miller and Tracy.
Though Olivares and Miller are typically found competing at the National level, the experienced pairing still celebrated their first overall ARA victory together at Oregon Trail Rally.
Olivares and Miller also claimed the RC2 class victory, while DirtFish’s Brenten Kelley and Stefan Trajkov finished second in a Steven Redd Racing Ford Fiesta R5 after close competition from Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell and co-driver Michael Hordijk, whose 2022 Mitsubishi Mirage suffered a mechanical issue on the final stage.
Megennis and Szewczyk earned both their first overall podium and first class victory on just their third rally together, finishing nearly three minutes ahead of second-place L4WD finishers Eric Fretress and Ethan Curtis, who were contesting their first event in a newly acquired 2013 Subaru Impreza WRX STI. Madelyn Tabor and Krista Skucas completed the podium in a Steven Redd Racing Ford Fiesta Rally3.
“We went into the weekend with goals of a class win and overall podium,” Szewczyk explained. “At the end of the first day we found ourselves just off the overall lead, which was great, but we knew we wouldn’t be able to catch our Element Rallysport teammates Javier and KJ, so we shifted our focus on Andy and Shaun.
“The morning loop was very loose, so we dropped some time to Andy and Shaun, so we figured we would just bring it home as we were already on track to achieve our goals for the weekend.
“We won the penultimate stage, and the team texted us that the gap to Andy and Shaun was only five seconds, so Georgie decided we would go for it, and we did, winning the last stage overall and beating Andy and Shaun by 6.8 seconds on stage and beating them by 1.6 seconds overall after 93 miles of racing.
“It was a mega effort from Georgie and the great group at Element, bringing home a one-two for the team.”
Miller earned his 14th NA4WD class victory and 12th overall rally podium, the majority of them alongside Tracy, once again demonstrating his consistency in the Western Region.
2026 Olympus Super Regional Rally winners Josh Gierman and Gavin Bowen finished second in NA4WD in their 2000 Subaru Impreza “3.0RS,” while Jeffrey Olmstead and Serena Nelson completed the class podium.
Tight Battles in Two-Wheel-Drive Classes at OTR
While Hill and Blattner started by leading the rally overall, that didn’t translate to a runaway class victory.
Right on their tails from the opening stage was the Ford Fiesta Rally4 of Julien Sebot and Steven Harrell, who spent the first half of Saturday third overall and never sat more than 21.3 seconds behind the Escort. The pair even passed Hill and Blattner on the final stage of the day to lead the O2WD class overnight by 15.3 seconds.
Sunday, the battle of modern versus historic machinery continued as Hill slowly chipped away at Sebot’s lead, overtaking on SS11 and then carefully managing the gap through the remaining stages to win by just 21.5 seconds after 93 miles of competition.
Pat Darrow and Don Burress completed the O2WD podium in their 1981 Volvo 242.
Limited Two-Wheel-Drive (L2WD) featured similarly exciting action in the fight for victory. Reigning Western Regional L2WD champions Chris Miller and Crystina Coats jumped into the lead immediately, putting their 2015 Scion FR-S 9.7 seconds ahead of the 2015 Ford Fiesta ST of Henry Tabor and Leah Brissett.
Over the first loops, Miller and Coats expanded the lead to as much as 45.2 seconds, but during the second half of Saturday’s stages, Tabor began clawing time back and overtook the Scion on the final stage of the day by just 9.5 seconds.
Tabor’s lead held through SS15 on Sunday before Miller reclaimed the class lead by only 1.7 seconds heading into the final stage.
Tabor responded with a masterclass performance on SS16, “Starveout,” taking 13.4 seconds back from Miller to reclaim the victory, while also improving his first-pass time on the stage by more than 20 seconds.
Third place went to Henry’s father, Mark Tabor, and co-driver Kathryn Hansen, who battled Sean Edwards and Robert Culbertson’s 1976 Volvo 242 throughout Sunday to put both father and son on the podium at their hometown rally.
“It was a really good weekend for both of us,” Henry Tabor said. “We fought tooth and nail against Chris and Christina, including trying to burn as much fuel as possible to be lighter for the final stage.
“They’re extremely talented and it was an honor to race with them and take the victory.
“I’m excited for SOFR [the Southern Ohio Forest Rally], where Dylan Hooker will be back in the car, but Leah and I had a really good time.”
The next and penultimate round of the ARA Western Regional Championship will be Rally Colorado, July 18-19.
To see images for Oregon Trail - visit the OREGON TRAIL GALLERY on Apexiel.
Randall Tops Close Headwaters Rally
Halfway across the country from OTR, the one-day Headwaters Rally in Walker, Minnesota celebrated its 30th anniversary, offering a compact but highly competitive event that showcased mid-season action on some of the same roads used by Ojibwe Forests Rally, round six of the eight-round ARA National Championship, later in the year.
The 34-mile, six-stage event included “Steamboat” and “Kabekona,” as well as three passes over the famed Crossroads Jump, offering a small taste of what the National Ojibwe Forests Rally brings later in the season.
Saturday afternoon, cars hit the stages, and James Randall and Andrew Rausch immediately put their L4WD 2015 Subaru WRX into the lead by eight seconds over the L4WD 2002 Subaru Impreza of Peter Farrow and Jackson Sedivy, with brothers Josh and Matthew Nykanen’s O2WD 1987 Volkswagen Golf GTI in third.
Inaugural Headwaters Rally winner Stephen Gingras moved from fourth into second on SS2 in his NA4WD 1994 Subaru Impreza “3.0RS,” co-driven by Katie Gingras, before Farrow reclaimed the position on SS3. The pair then ended SS4 tied for second overall, while Nykanen sat just behind them in fourth.
Heading into the final loop, Gingras dropped to fifth on SS5, while Nykanen moved into third, just 1.6 seconds behind Farrow. Meanwhile, NA4WD class leaders Aidan and John Hicks moved their 1996 Subaru Impreza into fourth, only 4.7 seconds off Nykanen and 1.8 seconds ahead of Gingras, setting up a dramatic final stage.
While first and second stayed unchanged, Hicks moved onto the overall podium in third, just 3.3 seconds behind Farrow and Sedivy. Josh and Danielle Kemp won the final stage in their 2004 Subaru WRX to move into fourth overall, only 2.2 seconds shy of the podium, while the top seven crews finished within one minute of each other.
At the top of the standings, however, it was Randall and Rausch who claimed five of the six stage wins on their way to a first overall rally victory.
“The Headwaters Rally was great,” Randall said. “We have worked really hard over the last few years to find our rhythm, and at this event everything came together for us.
“The roads at Headwaters were a lot of fun. There were some challenging technical sections and some high-speed sections where you could really get the car going fast. We were hopeful that we would end up on the podium but did not expect an overall win.”
While they finished second overall and in class, Farrow and Sedivy left the event leading both the Central Regional Driver and Co-Driver Championships.
“The race itself was the closest I've been in,” Farrow said. “After stage four we were tied for second, down to the tenth of a second. The gap between second and fifth was only six seconds. At the finish, the gap was just as close. It was great competition against some really good crews.
“Jackson called the notes near-flawlessly, and we were really in sync in the car. We had a couple scares on stage, including getting pretty high up on a bank, but somehow we came through unscathed.”
Josh and Danielle Kemp’s drive earned them third in the L4WD class as well.
In NA4WD, Aidan and John Hicks came out on top by just 14.3 seconds over the Gingras car, only taking the class lead on the penultimate stage. Matt and Jacqueline James finished third in class in their 2006 Subaru Impreza.
The Brothers Nykanen Shine in Open Two-Wheel-Drive
Despite consisting of only three cars, the O2WD class at Headwaters became one of the event’s standout stories. Travis Mattonen and Anikka Nykanen debuted their 1998 Subaru Impreza in rear-wheel-drive configuration for the first time, while 2025 class winners Levi and Griffin Johnson returned in their 1986 BMW 325i. Joining them were brothers Josh and Matt Nykanen, sharing a car for the first time in their 1987 Volkswagen Golf GTI.
Matt Nykanen, the 2025 ARA Ken Block Rookie of the Year winner and current National O2WD Championship contender, stepped out of the driver’s seat and into the co-driver’s seat for the first time to help his brother Josh attack the Minnesota stages. From SS1 through SS6, their chemistry was on full display.
While battling for the overall podium, the pair also dominated their class, winning every stage and steadily increasing their lead from 5.7 seconds to 17.8 seconds by the finish.
“It was definitely incredible to be able to rally with my brother,” Josh said. “We went out to have fun, but also to see just how much we could squeeze out of the Golf, and I think we just about found the limit.
“Everything about the event went great. It was probably the most laid-back, smoothly run rally I've seen yet. I was finally able to iron out some of the issues I'd been having with the car, and we went the whole event without any major issues. To finish fifth overall but only five seconds off second was insane. Matt does just as well as a co-driver as he does driving.”
“I'm just super happy that I had the opportunity to co-drive for my brother,” Matt said. “He's an absolute madman behind the wheel, but there's nobody else I trust more to drive like that.
“Co-driving was a very different pace, but it was a challenge I really enjoyed. I think it helped me being a driver myself, knowing how I needed notes called and being able to apply that from the other seat. I don't think I stopped smiling the entire event. I loved every second of it.”
The Johnson brothers secured second place in class and valuable championship points in their BMW, while Travis Mattonen and Anikka Nykanen completed the podium in third.
The next round of the ARA Central Regional Championship is the Missouri Ozark Rally, July 11, 2026.
Complete results can be found on the ARA website at ARA-rally.com
~Mason Runkel for the ARA