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ARA kicks off Two Day Event in McKee, KY



McKee, Ky. ~ This weekend, the American Rally Association East Region Championship heads to the Bluegrass State as competitors gather in McKee, Kentucky for the 2024 Boone Forest Rally.


Taking place in the famed Daniel Boone National Forest, the Boone Forest Rally this weekend has an expanded itinerary compared to last year’s event, offering two days and 74.3 miles of stage rallying on roads that may just be America’s best-kept secret.


Smooth gravel with short tarmac sections makes for smooth racing across both days of the rally for competitors and a revamped stage itinerary with seven individual stages, all of which are new for the 2024 event.


The board organizing the Super Regional Rally is a supergroup of the US Rally scene, with eleven-time national rally champion John Buffum, Vermont SportsCar owner Lance Smith, and long-time rallyist and event organizer Mark Everett all teaming up with Erik Hubbard of the Backroads of Appalachia to put on one of the best rallies in the nation.


Backroads of Appalachia is 501(c)3 non-profit organization that drives motorsport tourism in the Appalachian region to show off the area’s beautiful roads and exciting motorsport opportunities to the rest of the world.


Not only does it aim to bring Appalachia to the rest of the world, but the rest of the world to Appalachia.


“We are community first, racing second,” explained Backroads of Appalachia Director Erik Hubbard.


For Boone Forest Rally and the rest of the Backroads of Appalachia events, the goal is to use motorsports as a vehicle to bring economic growth and increased interest to the region.


“We want to become like Concord, North Carolina is, but for rally,” he continued.


Working with local and state governments, Backroads of Appalchia has been able to help organize over 100 motorsport events a year, all with the intent of bringing motorsport tourism and teams to the region to regrow in the wake of coal mining’s decline.


The organization utilizes Volunteer Firefighters to help with radio operations, “the most able-bodied and hard-working” volunteer force in the form of the local coal-miners, and some of the best roads in the Nation this weekend to create what is sure to soon be a staple of the US rally calendar.


And those roads? They can’t even be destroyed! Due to the bedrock surface underneath the gravel, road repairs post-rally are much easier and cheaper than that of any other gravel rally in the US, a savings that gets passed to competitors in the form of a lower entry fee, this year of just $500.


Speaking of entry fees, the Boone Forest Rally organizers also hosted a food drive this year for teams to bring non-perishable food items with them to donate to the Zion Food Pantry which they call Race Against Hunger. The team that brought the most earned a free entry into the 2025 event.


This year’s Boone Forest Rally started on Thursday with a Rally Festival that gathered fans and drivers alike in McKee Square for photo opportunities, meet and greets, and the chance to see the race cars up close before they went to their shakedown stage on Thursday night.


Today, the competitors will be stationed at the McKee High School and leaving for SS1 at 2:00 PM Eastern, after another Parc Exposé one hour before the first car out.


The cars will rally in McKee on the Turkey Foot stage before moving on to White Ash and Hale Ridge after a service break, and end the day with another Parc Exposé in Beattyville, Kentucky.


Saturday follows a similar schedule with cars leaving the Livingston, Kentuck Parc Exposé at 2:00 PM again, but this time moving on to tackle the Poplar Gap, New Hope Tower, Tree Tower, and Mill Creek stages for an evening of rallying fun before pulling into the final time control just before 8:00 PM.


In total, 26 cars will be taking to the stages, with a strong lineup of some of the nation's best rallyists all descending on small-town Kentucky. Vermont SporstCar will be in attendance with Connor Martell and Alex Gelsomino piloting an updated version of the VSC 2023-spec Subaru WRX STI open-class car sporting a Team Kentucky Livery.


“The stages look amazing, but not only that the road sections, the tarmac roads are fantastic!”


“The way it is in this part of the world is there’s so much undulation from hill to hill, adn then the roads are built around that, so they’re just beautiful roads.


“We had a good recce Connor and I! He and I worked together earlier this year at Rally of Nations in Mexico, so we used that event to practice me learning his pace notes, and him getting used tot he way I work, and the way I call notes and so on.


“We had a good result in Mexico and now we are competing in the Vermont SportsCar Subaru for the first time this year, there will be a few more events before the end of the year, and hopefully this program continues iont he future!”

“I’m excited to be here in Kentucky! Backroads of Appalachia has done a fantastic job putting this invent together. We’re looking forward to enjoying the roads, and enjoying this amazing Vermont SportsCar car. It’s a brand-new build so yesterday was the first time the car was on gravel, and it worked really well!”


Pat Gruszka will also be taking to the stages in his Hyundai i20 Rally2 car with Ross Whittock sitting alongside copiloting.


“Kentucky has some great roads so I’m excited to be back!” Gruszka said. “Feels like home for sure.”


“I haven’t been in the Hyundai much recently so it’s always nice to jump back in. Glad that we have a nice field to compete against, and a massive thank you to Backroads of Appalachia for putting on the event.”


“As always thank you to the volunteers for helping put the event on cause without them nothing is possible.”


While these two cars are expected to be the fastest on the Kentucky Stages, there’s still plenty more to be excited about.


The Open 2WD class should have great competition as the current National O2WD points leaders Ryan Booth and Nick Dobbs will be competing in their 1976 Ford Escort MkII aiming for the overall podium and a win in their class.


To reach that spot they’ll have to fight against seven other cars in their class, including the RWD converted Subaru WRX STI of Phil Wearn and Keegan Helwig, and the BMW 328i of Keenan Phillips and Helen Park, who recently traveled across the country to compete in the West-Coast National events in a massive cross-country road trip.


The Naturally Aspirated 4WD class will also see some heavy hitters, as last year’s second-place overall finishers Jon Scharge and Nick Balzer will be returning in their 2007 Subaru Impreza. Sebastian Gomez Abero and Gage Gregory will be competing in their first ARA rally since 2019, after taking a few years to rally side-by-sides. Still, Nathan Coulter and Bryce Proseus come into this event as the class favorites with the highest speed factor in their first-generation Subaru Legacy.


“Boone in 2023 was one of the most challenging events I've done to date,” said Proseus of his rally with Coulter last year, “and the organizers listened to competitor feedback and promised us some of the twistiest and fun technical stage roads in the country for this year.”

“No matter what, I know we'll have a warm welcome from the people of Appalachia, who have been incredibly supportive throughout the years.”


The 10-car Limited 2WD class is also expected to be an exciting one, as 2022 L4WD Champion Chris Sladek returns to HART Rally Team 2017 Honda Civic with Cole Clements at his side to take on the likes of Duncker Felix and Santiago Jarrin who won in the L4WD class at Boone Forest Rally last year.



Current National L2WD leaders Richo Healey and Michelle Miller will also be making an appearance in their Lexus IS250, as will Southern Ohio Forest Rally Regional L2WD winners Matt McGee and Lauren Lambert, 2022 East Region and 2023 Central Region L2WD Champions Chris and Sara Nonack, among many, many others.


Finally, the Limited 4WD class will see a head-to-head battle between the 2002 WRX of Tom and Karl Mayer, and the 1993 Ford Escort Cosworth of Mike Tirpak and Chris Rotolo.


~Mason Runkle, for the ARA with photos by Adam Bachi and Mike Trimpe

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