ARA Doubleheader Spans 1,500 Miles from Oregon Trail to Minnesota’s Headwaters, Highlights Breadth and Diversity of American Rally
- masonrunkel
- 5 minutes ago
- 13 min read
(Dufur, OR. May 16, 2025) ~ Five states and more than 1,500 miles separate dual American Rally Association (ARA) events this weekend. The 2025 ARA National Championship presented by Kubota marks the halfway point of the season with the Oregon Trail Rally (OTR) in Dufur, Oregon and Goldendale, Washington, while the ARA Central Region Championship features the Headwaters Rally in Walker, Minnesota. Each event boasts decades of history, its own signature character and a broad spectrum of machinery.
With roots dating back to 1984, the Oregon Trail Rally has long been an iconic event on the U.S. rally calendar. Three days of rallying across a 19-stage, 108-mile itinerary await a massive 85-car entry list. Meanwhile, the single-day, 40-mile Headwaters Regional Rally in Minnesota, serves as a warmup for August’s Ojibwe Forest Rally, round six of the eight-race National Championship.
With two events, 101 cars, and 148 miles of stage rally action, ARA’s first doubleheader of the year, May 17–19, will feature top-level professionals and grassroots privateers, all testing their own limits.
Three-Day Oregon Trail Itinerary Includes Fan-Favorite Portland International Raceway Night on Friday
Each day of the Oregon Trail Rally showcases at least one iconic stage in American rallying. As always, the 2025 edition will kick off with two stages held entirely within the grounds of the famous Portland International Raceway (PIR). Featuring a unique mix of tarmac and gravel, these short stages are notorious for catching out competitors, making them among the most entertaining for fans.
After finishing in the dark on day one, crews will pack up and head to Goldendale, Washington, for day two of the rally. Among the eight stages on Saturday is the only full-tarmac stage in U.S. rallying: “Maryhill”. Set on the historic Maryhill Loops Road, competitors will battle for traction as they slide through the 2.48-mile stage on tires designed and engineered for gravel surfaces, following the “Oak Flat Reverse” stage. Saturday also features the famous “Dalles Mountain Up” and “Andy’s Run” stages, with every stage run twice.
Sunday’s action moves to Dufur, Oregon, for eight more stages, culminating in the National PowerStage on “Nagle’s Revenge”. Highlights include the “Boyd Loop” stage, known for its iconic 100-plus-foot jump with Mount Hood in the background, and the high-speed water crossing on “Shadowbuck”, which will test both driver skill and vehicle durability.
After all is said and done, competitors will return to downtown Dufur for Parc Fermé and the podium celebration.
Fans who can’t make it to the PIR stages Friday will still have a chance to see the cars up close on Saturday and Sunday mornings, with Parc Exposés in downtown Goldendale and Dufur, respectively.
A total of 83 teams have signed up for Oregon Trail's high-speed stages, representing 17 different manufacturers, ranging from well-known names like Ford and Subaru to more rarified marques—at least in the U.S.—such as Skoda and Renault.
Semenuk Aims for Four Straight
Subaru Motorsports USA’s (SMUSA’s) Brandon Semenuk and Keaton Williams have won all four rounds of the 2025 ARA National Championship presented by Kubota so far, but last month’s round three, the venerable Olympus Rally, was far from smooth for the defending champions, including a substantial impact with a tree on the rally's second day that kept the Kubota-sponsored team of Conner Martell and Alex Gelsomino in the hunt for the overall win right up to the final stage.
And Semenuk and Williams will have in the back of their minds the disappointment of last year’s OTR, when a large rock in the road caused a mechanical DNF on day one of the rally, breaking their winning streak on the PNW stages.
Hot on their heels is the Martell Racing duo of Martell and Gelsomino, who have been right behind Semenuk every step of the way. Despite this being a learning year for Martell, Oregon Trail is one of the few events on the calendar where he has prior experience, having run OTR in 2018, placing second ahead of the likes of Ken Block, Chris Atkinson, and Barry McKenna.
The Orange Team (Martell) and the Blue Team (Semenuk) face heavy competition from behind if they slip up, including the Ford Focus RS of Cam Steely and Ole Holter, the L4WD entry of Travis Pastrana and Rhianon Gelsomino, and even the Škoda Rally2 of Ryan Booth and Nick Dobbs.
Growing RC2 Field Includes Familiar Faces and Newcomers
With last year’s rally won by the Citroën C3 Rally2 of Ricardo Cordero and Marco Hernandez, many eyes will be on this year’s RC2 field as fans are eager to see what the class can deliver in 2025. While Cordero and Hernandez won’t return to defend their win, six other teams have thrown their hats into the ring.
Among them are class leader Pat Gruszka in his Hyundai i20 R5 and Ryan Booth in his Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. With just nine points separating the two, a win for Booth could bring him close to, if not into, the lead of the RC2 championship.
Returning to RC2 for Oregon Trail after a brief foray into the L4WD class at Olympus are two-time L4WD champions Javier Olivares and KJ Miller in their Ford Fiesta Rally2, aiming for a podium finish.
New to the RC2 class, Steven Redd and Dylan Hooker will jump into the national RC2 battle after contesting the last few events in their 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX STI in the O4WD Regional category.
Their Oregon Trail entry comes alongside the announcement that their team will begin offering arrive-and-drive rental services, aimed at helping new competitors enter rally more easily with professionally prepared cars and experienced support crews.
“After years of racing my own cars and building race cars for others, I’m gearing up for something big at Steven Redd Racing!” Redd said. “I’m stoked to announce that starting next season, we’ll have a whole fleet of arrive-and-drive rally cars available for rent, ranging from mild stock BMWs to full-on R5 cars and many levels in between!
“Dylan and I are running the R5 at Oregon Trail to put it through its paces and bring visibility to our rental program. It only felt right to enter in National RC2 since we’ve put down competitive times for the class in my 2007 STi, and we’re super excited at the chance to see how we compare with the proper kit!”
Rounding out the RC2 entry list will be the Hyundai i20 R5 of Alastair Scully and Stefan Tajkov, who recently made an impressive appearance on the Hoonigan YouTube Channel, and the Audi A1 Maxx of Roberto Yglesias, which debuted at Olympus.
LN4 Class Set for Intense Competition
The combined Limited and Naturally Aspirated 4WD (LN4) class is nine cars strong for this year's Oregon Trail, including the second outing for SMUSA’s new ARA25L WRX STI, with Travis Pastrana and Rhianon Gelsomino in the cockpit.
While Olympus marked the debut of the new SMUSA car, Oregon Trail will see the U.S. stage rally debut of rallycross star Georgie Megennis. Competing for the first time in a Ford Fiesta Rally3, Megennis will be joined by co-driver Michael Szewczyk.
At just 21 years old, Megennis spent multiple seasons in the Nitrocross NRX NEXT category, earning 12 podiums in 20 races while driving for the Hansen Motorsport #YellowSquad team. After a single outing in the British Rally Championship last year, she now makes the move into the ARA.
“I’m excited to get back to one of my most favorite events in North America after a six year hiatus,” co-driver Szewczyk said. “We’re very excited to see how we stack up to Aoife [Raftery] and the other Rally3s in our class!”
Sean Donnelly and Zach Pfeil return in their Renault Clio Rally3 after missing Olympus, while Liam McNelis and Arthur Kierans, along with Olympus 43i Ken Block FLAT OUT 43VER Award winners Madelyn Tabor and Sophia McKee, will also take to the stages in Ford Fiestas.
Also making an exciting return after debuting at Olympus, Aoife Raftery and Krista Skucas will once again pilot the DirtFish Women in Motorsport Subaru WRX STI in the L4WD class. Irish rallyist Raftery made an impressive first showing in the ARA last time out, and will no doubt look to build on that momentum at Oregon Trail.
Meanwhile, on the naturally aspirated side of LN4, the Black Hole Rally team of Jacob and Michael Despain plans to shake things up in their NA4WD GC Subaru Impreza RS. The duo has twice won Rally Colorado overall and was on track for a top-five overall finish at Oregon Trail last year before a final-stage DNF dashed their hopes. Despite the setback, they’re back and ready for more.
“We are very excited to come back to OTR this year, and we are looking to go faster than we have been before,” Jacob asserted confidently. “I'm looking forward to trading times with the fastest LN4 drivers.
“The main goal for this event is a top 10 overall and a podium in class with a speed factor of 80+. Although we are down on power considering the class, we will still push hard to meet our goals. And who knows, maybe we can take the class win.”
Cyr Also Looking to Earn a Perfect First Half of 2025
While eyes are on Semenuk to go four-in-a-row this weekend, fans will also be watching Chris Cyr and Glen Ray of the Bearly Cyrious Rally Team as they chase their fourth consecutive L2WD class victory. The duo has piloted their Ford Fiesta ST to overall wins and PowerStage wins at every event so far, building a commanding lead in the class and showing no signs of slowing down.
Once again, looking to take him down are the father-and-son competitors Mark and Henry Tabor. Each driving their own Ford Fiesta, Mark, co-driven by Katheryn Hansen, and Henry, co-driven by Jack Gillow-Wiles, have been locked in a close battle all season. Henry has finished ahead twice, but Mark currently holds the points lead between them.
Another notable entry is that of Nathan and Eliot Odle, returning to the stages for the first time since the 2024 Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, piloting their Lexus IS250.
Of course, the O2WD class promises excitement as well, with the classic battle between Seamus Burke’s Ford Escort and Michael Hooper’s Lexus IS350 expected to lead the field. They’ll be joined by Richo Healey, Andrew Cohen, and others to round out a competitive national lineup.
Regional O2WD Entries Abound
As is typical in the Pacific Northwest, the regional O2WD class is once again the largest at OTR, with 16 teams entered in this fun-loving category.
A total of 54 regional entries will take on the 18 stages of the Oregon Trail Regional Rally, participating in all three days like the national entries, missing only the PowerStage.
Of the 54, roughly 30% will compete in the O2WD class. One of the standouts is Flynn Baglin and Andres Bautista’s 1973 Ford Ranger desert truck. After debuting at the 2024 Prescott Rally and also participating in the Ridge Rally last year, the pair and their Ranger remain undefeated in the O2WD class.
“[Andres] is fresh off a massive battle south of the border in the NORRA 1000 off-road race,” Baglin said. “He is going to be pushing me to stay on the gas for OTR.
“The Ford Fckn' Ranger is fresh and ready after an off-season re-prep. We feel the FFR is well suited for the fast and flowing stages and might be in for a good fight against all the cars that have a bit more agility. No matter what happens, we will HOON the heck outta the stages and have a great time!”
Also in the hotly contested top four is the Ford Fiesta ST of two-time West Regional O2WD champions Julien Sebot and Steven Harrell. The pair will be aiming for their first class win at Oregon Trail since 2023.
“It looks like a lot of BMWs and other high power rear-wheel-drive cars versus two little front-wheel-drive Fiestas, power vs commitment,” Sebot said. “I heard John Hill is bringing a monster of an Escort powered by Millington. He’ll be hard to catch.”
“As usual we’ll compete for the biggest jump on Boyd and showing that front-wheel-drive can be more sideways (this is the way). Two years ago 0.2 seconds separated us from the winner, but unfortunately he chickened out and went to play in L2WD this year. Instead, we hope the Loose Entry Team has better mechanical luck than at Olympus, we finished one second ahead of them at the fall regional, another close finish.”
“Finally, I wonder how Flynn in the truck will do and want to see the pictures of it flying at Boyd!”
Highlights among the other 12 entries include the 1994 BMW 325i of Sage Van Tilburg and Julia Majors, the 1989 Ford Sierra of Dominick Brooks and Ken Brady, and the debut of James Veatch III and Jenna Cooper’s Lexus SC400.
While those cars will be battling for O2WD honors, Andy Miller and Shaun Tracy will be looking to complete an Olympus–Oregon Trail sweep for the third time in a row in their NAEZ30R WRX STI, following their win at the Olympus Regional Rally last month.
A NA4WD class win would also mark their 11th straight victory, but to earn that, they’ll need to fend off the likes of Garrett Strickland and Cole Clements in their 1998 Impreza 2.5 RS, Josh Gierman and Gavin Bowen’s 2000 “Impreza 3.0 RS,” as well as six other class entries.
Robert Shibao and Dillon McKenna will lead the L4WD class in the starting order, lining up just behind Miller and Tracy in their 2002 Subaru WRX. Their ten-car class consists exclusively of WRX and STI Subarus, except for the turbocharged 1992 Legacy of Steve Greer and David Bush.
The O4WD class also carries a substantial number of entries with 11 teams, including the Subaru Crosstrek of Andrew Reavis and Anthony Campbell, the 2018 WRX of Elijah Kleeman and Jeff Kleeman, and the 2011 STI of Nolan Abell and Leah Brisset.
Family Ties Highlight Headwaters Entry List
While competitors take on their second day of competition at Oregon Trail, 17 other teams will be following their own itinerary as they tackle the 2025 Headwaters Rally in Walker, Minnesota, earning points toward the ARA Central Regional Championship.
The 2025 Headwaters Rally will take teams across 40 miles of stages through the Paul Bunyan Forest, near the headwaters of the Mississippi River. A Parc Exposé in downtown Walker begins the day at 1:00 p.m., before the first car departs for a loop of three stages at 2:00 p.m. That loop will be repeated once more before teams return to the Chase on the Lake Hotel for the awards ceremony.
As always in the Minnesota region, the entry list features a large number of family members racing with—and against—each other across multiple teams.
Notably, the Himes family has three cars on the entry list, unsurprising, given the family's deep rallying history.
Brothers Silas, Matt, and Jake all began rallying in the early 2000s, touring events across the North Central region of the U.S. in a variety of cars, sometimes competing in the same car as co-drivers for each other, and sometimes racing on their own against one another.
Silas Himes will be back in his L4WD 2008 Subaru WRX STI, which he has driven to three podiums, including an overall win at Nemadji Trail Rally in December, but along with him will be his children, Connor and Charlotte.
“It’s a sport that I really love and that has been in my family from my uncles and my dad,” Silas’ son Connor explained. “I’m super pumped for Headwaters, as it will be my first event this year, and I’m looking forward to the race!”
Connor, co-driven by Elliot Prusi, is piloting a 2001 NA4WD Impreza, which he drove to second place behind his father at Nemadji Trail.
Silas’ daughter Charlotte weighed in, saying, “Rally is important to me because it’s something that has always been a part of our family. Growing up, we had my Uncle Jake and Uncle Matt Himes, as well as my dad, racing. Some of my favorite memories are watching them and running around the service area when I was younger.
“It’s always something I wanted to do, so racing with so many family and friends, and the people I remember my dad talking about when I was younger, is the greatest thing! I’m very excited for Headwaters because it’s my first race this year, and I get to race with some of the best people and families out there!”
Charlotte will be in the co-driver’s seat for Nemadji—not for another Himes, but for Joshua Nykanen, with whom she sat twice last year in his 1987 VW Golf O2WD car.
Nykanen is another entrant with strong family ties on the entry list. His brother Matthew, while not competing this weekend, is currently leading the O2WD National Championship, and his sister-in-law (Matthew’s wife) will be driving in a rally for the first time after several years of navigating experience.
Anikka will be co-driven by Danielle Kemp in a 1996 Subaru Impreza NA4WD, competing in the busiest class of the event.
One more team with family ties is the Dirty Urban Racing Team, aka DURT. Driving their “Moobaru” Impreza wagon in the NA4WD class, the father-son team of Josh and Aidan Hicks will be looking for an overall podium after earning their first at last year’s Ojibwe Forests Regional Rally.
Large NA4WD Field Highlights Grassroots Rallying
Of the 17-car field at Headwaters, eight entries are in the relatively affordable NA4WD class, an open class that allows for a high level of customization to naturally aspirated cars and which has long been a favorite for entry-level and lower-cost rallying.
Leading the class in the starting order will be newcomers Dustin Peterke and Robert Judge. While they only have one rally under their belts, they’ve won multiple Rallysprints and used that experience to take second place overall in the 100 Acre Wood Regional Rally earlier this year.
“I can tell you it has been exciting,” Judge said of their success at 100AW. “Our plan for this year is to take home the Central Region Championship. NA4WD is popular because of how much cheaper it is to maintain a normally aspirated car versus a forced-induction car. Trying to find a cheap Impreza is still not easy these days, but it's a lot cheaper than trying to buy and cage a turbo 4WD platform.”
In addition, the NA4WD class offers simplicity and ease of parts sourcing, as the typical NA Subarus that tend to fill the entry lists are much easier and cheaper to find parts for and work on, thanks to the large community surrounding them.
While Peterke and Silas Himes are expected to be the front-runners at Headwaters, battling for the overall win, Peterke and Judge will have to overcome the likes of the previously mentioned Aidan and John Hicks, Stephen Gingras, and many more in their class alone to make it happen.
Himes will have competition in the L4WD class from Peter Farrow and Jackson Sedivy’s 2002 Impreza, as well as Jason Cook and Margaret Tu’s 2004 WRX, both fighting for the class win.
The 1974 Ford Capri of Mike Hurst and Randall Short will be in a tight battle for O2WD honors with the 1986 BMW 325 of Levi Johnson and Lars Anderson. They’ll both face competition from the previously mentioned Golf GTI of Joshua Nykanen and Charlotte Himes, as well as the Chevrolet S10 of Scott Parrott and Shawn Silewski.
Finally, a two-team entry makes up the L2WD class, and Brent Lucio and Tim Kohlmann’s 2017 Ford Fiesta takes on Nino Ortega and Jason Hack’s 1986 VW Golf GTI.
For more about the Oregon Trail Rally and Headwaters Rally, head to our website. To follow the events, check out ARA on Instagram and Facebook.
-Mason Runkel for the ARA