ARA West Regional Championship Draws to a Close at Tour de Forest
(Elma, Wash., September 28, 2026) — The sixth and final in-region round of the 2026 American Rally Association (ARA) West Regional Championship takes place this weekend as Tour de Forest (TDF) Rally returns October 4 to the working forest roads of western Washington.
Arto Ylikangas enters the finale leading the West Regional Championship by just three points over Julien Sebot, 34-31. With Ylikangas absent from TDF, Sebot and co-driver Steven Harrell have an opportunity to move into the championship lead in their Open Two-Wheel-Drive (O2WD) class 2021 Ford Fiesta Rally4, while several competitors further down the standings remain mathematically in contention.
The final in-region battle will play out over a compact, single-day itinerary totaling 38.97 competitive miles across six stages. The predominantly gravel roads range from hard-packed mainlines to loose, potholed side roads, with crests, dips, and on- and off-camber corners adding to the challenge as teams fight for maximum points before the end of the season.
While TDF is the final West Regional round of the year, the championship may not be officially decided in Washington. Competitors can count their highest-scoring finish from outside the West Region toward their final championship total, leaving November 7’s Show-Me Rally in Potosi, Missouri, as the final opportunity to alter the standings unless a title is mathematically secured at TDF.
Competition begins Sunday morning with the 49 cars entered out of the Powers Creek service area at approximately 8:30 a.m. The route consists of three runs each of the 8.62-mile “Kennedy Loops” and 4.37-mile “To The Acute,” with a 40-minute service after the first four stages before the final two-stage loop. First car is scheduled back at Powers Creek around 2:17 p.m., with the podium and awards ceremony following later in the afternoon.
Miller Aims for Overall Victory at Tour de Forest
One of the highlights of Tour de Forest every year is just how many Pacific Northwest competitors pack out the entry list, from grassroots hobbyists to high-level builds piloted by experienced competitors known to hold their own against National competition on the similar roads of Olympus Rally every April.
Among the most feared will be the EZ30R-swapped 2005 Subaru Impreza WRX STI of Andy Miller and Mitch Meadows, competing in the Naturally Aspirated Four-Wheel-Drive (NA4WD) class. Miller is the two-time reigning ARA West Regional overall champion in the same car, and while entering Olympus nationally cost him a major opportunity for West Region points, he won’t be holding back at TDF.
“Andy and I had a great run at Wild West [Rally] earlier this year, where we won every stage and took the overall victory,” Meadows said. “The car has continued to develop throughout 2026, and we’re excited to get it back from PRE [Performance Race Engineering] for Tour de Forest. We’ve got a few tricks up our sleeve to keep the competition on its toes.
“Tour de Forest holds a really special place for me because it’s where I competed in my first U.S. rally. This is my eighth year in stage rally, and it’s been a humbling and amazing journey. I’ve made lifelong friendships, created core memories, and challenged myself at every event I’ve been fortunate enough to attend.
“We know these roads well from Tour de Forest and Olympus, so the plan is to show up, put on a show, and sling some gravel in the woods of Washington with our friends.”
Nine other NA4WD competitors will be looking to take the fight to Miller and Meadows.
Second-place championship contender Jeffery Olmstead and co-driver Serena Nelson enter in their 2000 Subaru Impreza looking to maximize their points haul. Olmstead sits seven points behind the absent Josh Gierman, and a third-place class finish or better would move him ahead of Gierman before any outside-region scores are applied. Fellow entrants Ben Burt and Noah Smith sit on 18 points, while Miller has 17, meaning neither can catch Gierman at TDF alone but both remain mathematically alive with an additional out-of-region result.
Championship fights aren’t the only things to watch in NA4WD. Chris Miller and Crystina Coats of the 501c Rally Team make their first move from two-wheel-drive to four-wheel-drive competition after winning the 2025 Limited Two-Wheel-Drive (L2WD) West Regional Championship in their Scion FR-S, known as “Thunderbird 6.”
“We are making the move to 4WD for the 2027 season in a GC Impreza coupe,” Coats said. “The car is currently getting a heavy re-prep, and TDF will be our first shakedown in the car. We look forward to seeing what works and what needs improvement as we prepare for a complete winter teardown.”
Michael Honn and Ethan Curtis are a new pairing following Honn’s previous co-driver Colin Katagiri’s move to Japan to teach English.
“We’re using Tour de Forest to shake the car down with a new motor after we blew ours up at [Oregon Trail Rally], and I’ll also be working with a new co-driver,” Honn said. “Ethan Curtis is stepping in while his regular driver, Cooper Anderson, figures out what he wants to do with his rally program next year.
“This will be my third Tour de Forest with my third different co-driver. We’ve finished third at both of our previous TDF appearances, so it would be great to keep that trend going. More than anything, we want to see how the car and Ethan feel together, focus on ourselves, and find a quick pace we’re both synced on. This is also the third motor in the car, so hopefully it’s the most sorted it’s been all year.”
Other NA4WD entries include Jason Mumme in his 2000 Subaru Impreza, David Alspaugh and Romain Beaulieu in their 1991 Audi Coupe Quattro, and DirtFish instructors Jack Harrison and Eric Schofhauser in their 1995 Subaru Impreza.
While O4WD cars compete in the overall classification rather than for a standalone class podium, five entries will be fighting for position at TDF. Andrew Reavis and Anthony Campbell enter in their 2013 Subaru Crosstrek, alongside Nolan Abell and Maribel Plaza in their 2011 Subaru STI, and Zach Lord and Garrett Larson in their 2001 Subaru Impreza.
Two MINI Countrymans round out the O4WD field, with Eric Zabala and Linden Wright in their 2011 MINI Cooper Countryman S and Garrett Brown and Felicia Killman in their 2012 MINI Cooper Countryman S ALL4.
Element RallySport’s Torchia Returns to Stage Rally After Four-Year Break
One of the most notable entries at Tour de Forest is Tony Torchia, who is effectively coming out of retirement for the event.
Torchia heads Element RallySport, the team responsible for rally car rentals including National Championship competitor Aoife Raftery’s Ford Fiesta Rally3 and Javier Olivares’ Ford Fiesta Rally2.
Aside from winning the 2025 Mike Nagle RallySprint, Torchia’s last stage rally start came at Olympus Rally in 2022.
For TDF, Torchia and co-driver Michael Szewczyk will campaign a Limited Four-Wheel-Drive (L4WD) 2015 Subaru WRX STI formerly campaigned in the ARA National Championship by Sam Albert and Michelle Miller. With Element planning to upgrade the car in the near future, TDF will serve as a proving ground to stress-test the current package and begin building an upgrade list.
Torchia will take on five other L4WD competitors, including Drew Coley and Chad Holloway in their 2007 Subaru WRX, Kristen and Jan Tabor in their 2003 Subaru WRX, and Spencer Black in his 2002 Subaru WRX. Also in the field is 2024 L4WD West Region Champion Phil Clarke, who returns alongside Johnny Vinti in his 2003 Subaru WRX.
“LTD Race Team is excited to return to the stages for Tour de Forest,” Clarke said. “While the 2026 season hasn’t delivered the Regional points we hoped for, we’ve made strong progress in pace. Working with Michelle Miller in the co-driver seat at Prescott Rally earlier this year provided valuable expertise that we’re carrying forward with Johnny Vinti in the co-driver seat.
“TDF is a great opportunity to put the car’s upgrades through their paces, refine our pace notes, and build on the speed we showed at Olympus Rally. We’re ready to get back in the car, put the work to the test, and keep moving forward.”
Also returning is Michael George in his 2007 Subaru Impreza, with TDF marking his final rally before becoming a father.
“I’m coming back for two big reasons,” George said. “Last year I had a partial rollover near the end of the rally that kept me from finishing, so there’s definitely some unfinished business. On top of that, my partner and I are having a baby, so this will be my final rally before becoming a dad, and I’ll be slowing down my schedule next year.
“The goal is pretty simple: finish the rally and have a good time. The roads could be pretty slick in places, so I’m trying to be patient, brake early, let the car move naturally, and not force anything.”
As far as the L4WD West Regional Championship is concerned, the absent Arto Ylikangas leads with 46 points, five ahead of Scott Crouch. Crouch has already earned the maximum 17 points available from an out-of-region event, however, meaning his 41-point total cannot improve and his championship hopes are over. Drew Coley is the highest-ranked contender entered at TDF with 27 points and remains mathematically capable of overtaking Ylikangas with a strong result in Washington and an additional out-of-region score.
Eagle Rock Racing Owner and Manager Compete Side by Side with New Car Debuts
Nick Allen, owner of Eagle Rock Racing (ERR), is mostly known these days for the team’s Rally3 Fiestas, campaigned by the likes of Richo Healey and Michelle Miller in the ARA National Championship. For Tour de Forest, however, the team is debuting two new additions to the fleet that bring ERR closer to the two-wheel-drive roots Allen started with.
It’s not just a fleet of modern FIA cars, either. This weekend Allen returns to the stage alongside co-driver Stefan Trajkov as the pair debut ERR’s Open Two-Wheel-Drive (O2WD) 1981 Toyota Starlet.
Fans familiar with the Pacific Northwest rally scene will instantly recognize the car as Garth Ankeny’s Starlet, which he first campaigned at Oregon Trail Rally in 2016 and has brought to West Regional events 19 times since. Earlier this year, the car went up for sale, and ERR jumped at the opportunity to add it to the fleet.
In addition, Team Manager Derek James and co-driver William Ross will debut the team’s latest L2WD Ford Fiesta ST. James is a familiar face in the East Coast rally scene, where he usually makes an annual appearance in the James World Rally Team Ford Fiesta R2 at his hometown Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally.
“Tour de Forest is going to be a fun one for us,” Allen said. “As team manager and as team owner, it is rare that Derek and I get to rally side by side at the same event, so this should be a lot of fun for the team.
“The Starlet is a lightweight, old-school RWD car with a built 7A-GE and modern Reiger suspension. There’s not much car around you, and not much to hide behind when you get it wrong. Coming from modern AWD and FWD cars, I expect it to be an absolute riot.
“For me, this is also my first rally back after some time away from competition. Tour de Forest seemed like the right place to do it. These are some of my favorite roads in the country, and throwing a little RWD car around them sounded like a hell of a lot more fun than easing my way back into things.
“The sensible plan is to learn the cars, build speed throughout the weekend, and get both of them to the finish. Neither of us is particularly good at driving slowly, though, so we’ll see how long that plan lasts.
“This weekend is also a good introduction to what we’re building at Eagle Rock Racing. Between the Fiesta ST in Limited 2WD, the Starlet in Open 2WD, and our Fiesta Rally3s in Limited 4WD, we now have rental options across three very different sides of the sport, all under one roof. The goal is to give drivers everything from an accessible entry into rally, to something old-school and a little wild, to a proper modern four-wheel-drive rally car.”
Sebot Chases Overall Championship in Rally4 Fiesta
Allen will be far from alone in the O2WD field, as the massive 14-car entry features some of the most well-known regional rallyists in the Pacific Northwest.
A close eye will be kept on the battle between the ever-sideways 1999 BMW M3 of David Clark and wife/co-driver Jenatte Clark and the Ford Fiesta Rally4 of Julien Sebot and Steven Harrell. Clark has 13 class victories and a class championship across 16 years of competition, while Sebot has seven class victories and two class championships since making his ARA debut at Tour de Forest in 2019. Both drivers have also managed a Super Regional overall victory in their respective O2WD machines.
Sebot has even more incentive to succeed at Tour de Forest, as just four overall championship points would move him ahead of the absent Arto Ylikangas and into the West Regional Championship lead, putting him firmly in control of the fight for his first overall Regional title.
Sebot also enters TDF with an 11-point lead in the O2WD West Regional Championship, putting him in a commanding position for the class title with his nearest rival, James Veatch, absent from the entry.
Clark, meanwhile, is eager to get back on stage.
“I’ve been rallying since 2010, but I haven’t been out as often as I’d like lately,” Clark said. “I’ll be in my 1999 two-wheel-drive BMW M3, and I’m targeting the Open 2WD podium, maybe even a win if I can shake the rust off quickly enough.
“I’m excited to get back on stage, but I’m way more excited to have my wife, Jenatte, back in the car. We haven’t teamed up in more than 14 years. Maybe there’s a reason for that,” he teased.
Also returning is Dave Hintz in his 2012 Ford Mustang, using TDF as an opportunity to test reliability-related improvements as development of the car continues.
A deep and dedicated field will make it difficult for any of the expected top cars to run away with it, though, with the likes of Doug Heredos and Rebecca Ruston’s 1997 BMW M3, Alexander Jardevall and Michel Hoche-Mong’s 1993 Volvo 940, and Ethan Hannemann and Jack Gillow-Wiles’ 2007 Dodge Caliber standing out as just a few potential underdogs from the entry.
National Champions, Circuit Racers and Newcomers Pack 15-Car L2WD Field
A massive 15-car entry is set for L2WD at Tour de Forest. While Derek James and William Ross will be ones to watch as they debut the new Eagle Rock Racing Fiesta, competitors with circuit racing experience, years of DirtFish instructing, and even National championships are ready to take them on.
DirtFish Rally School instructor Michelle Miller, who has also spent the past few years competing nationally as co-driver for Richo Healey, moves into the driver’s seat of the 501c Rally Team’s Scion FR-S as her husband Chris Miller and his co-driver Crystina Coats make their first move into NA4WD.
“I’m excited to get back into the driver’s seat of the FA24 Toyota FRS,” Miller said. “I’m teaming up with newer co-driver Amy Seaman, and we have put together an all-woman crew with Beatrice Knowles and Katie Vanderpool on the tools!
“The roads look amazing and the entry list is stacked. I’m looking forward to a good time!”
Miller will be competing against fellow DirtFish instructors Sean Edwards and Jack Ramie in their 1976 Volvo 242 for bragging rights in the instructor break room, while DirtFish Women in Motorsport will campaign an Element Rallysport Subaru BRZ piloted once again by circuit racer Michele Abbate and co-driven by Leah Brisset.
Abbate made her rally debut at this event last year with Miller in the co-driver’s seat, managing a fourth-in-class result in her first event.
DirtFish also helped newcomers Darrell Price and Caleb Honsinger catch the rally bug, leading Price to purchase a 2016 Ford Fiesta ST over the summer for their first stage rally together.
“Tour de Forest will be the first rally for both my co-driver and me, so we’re brand new to the sport,” Price said. “I started racing 125 shifter karts for fun a few years ago, then did a three-day rally school at DirtFish with some co-workers and got hooked. I bought the Fiesta ST over the summer and have been working to get it prepped and ready to go.
“My co-driver, Caleb Honsinger, was a navigator on a B-52 in the Air Force, so we’ll see if those skills translate to gravel roads. Our goal is to make sure the car is ready, hope nothing breaks, and finish respectably without too many rookie time penalties. We really just need seat time and experience with the flow of a rally, so we can get comfortable with the process before doing more events next year.
“I bought the car from Chase Hovinga, who last raced it a few years ago and will actually be our service crew at TDF. Despite the cool livery from my company, Sunstone Healthcare Group, we’re very much a grassroots team trying to figure this out, have a good time, and meet good people along the way.”
Outside the immediate DirtFish sphere, championship runners-up Sage Van Tilburg and Julia Majors enter in their 2014 Subaru BRZ as another pair expected to challenge near the front of the class. They’ll also face longtime rallyist and 2004 SCCA ProRally Production champion Mark Tabor and co-driver Kathryn Hansen in their 2018 Ford Fiesta ST, among many more in one of TDF’s deepest classes.
It all kicks off October 4 in Elma, Washington. Follow the action live on the ARA social media channels and ara-rally.com.
To see images for Tour de Forest Rally - visit the 2026 Tour de Forest Rally gallery on Apexiel
~Mason Runkel for the ARA
