Large Show-Me Rally Field to Bring 2026 Regional Championships to an End
(Potosi, Mo., November 6, 2026) — The 2026 American Rally Association (ARA) championship season comes to an end this weekend as Show-Me Rally takes place November 7 in and around the Mark Twain National Forest near Potosi, Missouri, offering competitors many of the same roads as the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, the second round of the ARA National Championship.
As the finale of the ARA Central Regional Championship, Show-Me will settle the region's remaining championship battles. With ARA competitors also able to count their best eligible out-of-region result toward other Regional Championships, Show-Me represents the final opportunity for competitors to improve their standings in the East and West championships as well.
A total of 30 crews are entered for Show-Me's mix of fast, flowing gravel roads and tighter technical sections, as the single-day rally offers a 10-stage, 61.04-mile itinerary with two service breaks along the way.
Action begins in downtown Potosi at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday after a Parc Expose starting at 10:00 a.m., with the first car starting "Colen Ridge to Brazil East" at 11:01 a.m., followed by "Palmer Delta to Pigeon Roost West" and "Berryman to Floyd Tower East." After the first service, competitors will tackle the same loop again before heading into the final section, featuring two runs each of "Goose to Pelican Ridge South" and "Kingston North." The first car is expected to reach the finish shortly after 8:00 p.m.
With a mix of high-level machinery, local competitors, and championship hopefuls, Show-Me's season-finale status brings plenty to fight for throughout the field.
McErlean Returns to Co-Drive in Strong Field at Show-Me
The fight for the top spot at Show-Me Rally is expected to be a tight one as high-end National machinery joins grassroots engineering.
Arguably the favorite to win, ARA National Championship frontrunner Pat Gruszka and co-driver John Hall bring the Green APU-backed Hyundai i20 N Rally2 back to Missouri to close out their 2026 season, using the event as an opportunity to continue developing the car and prepare for 2027.
“The Green APU team are excited to be running the Potosi stages as it’s an opportunity for Patrick to shake down the car after a few fixes that were required after a demanding LSPR,” Hall explained. “Show-Me will also be used by Patrick to continue note development, while I will again be in the co-driver’s seat and we hope to continue improving pace and preparing for the 2027 ARA National Championship.”
Among their challengers, Paul Rowley returns to ARA competition for the first time since Overmountain Rally Tennessee in 2024, where he finished fifth overall in his Open Four-Wheel-Drive (O4WD) Ford Fiesta R5. This time, he'll be joined by M-Sport Ford World Rally Team driver Josh McErlean, who will take on co-driving duties for the event.
McErlean is no stranger to the ARA, having earned an overall stage win on the infamous "Wildcat" stage at Olympus Rally in 2021, and another on "Wasp" at Overmountain in 2024. He has also co-driven for John Coyne at the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, with Show-Me marking his fourth appearance in ARA competition.
Looking to challenge the high-end machinery on his home stages, local favorite Micah Nickelson brings his custom O4WD 1986 Volkswagen Golf to Show-Me, seeking his first finish since converting the car to four-wheel drive.
Nickelson and longtime co-driver Tyler Ptacek have numerous victories on Missouri stages in two-wheel-drive classes, but Show-Me offers a chance for the pair to take their first podium in four-wheel drive.
The Final Four-Wheel-Drive Championship Battles
Entering the final round of the 2026 ARA season, several championships remain up for grabs at Show-Me, including, most notably, the ARA Central Regional Overall Drivers' Championship.
Tom Mayer, having already secured the ARA East Regional Overall Championship, currently leads the Central Overall Drivers' Championship with 31 points, but is trailed by Tyler Matalas and Peter Farrow, both tied on 24 points. A third-place overall finish or better would allow either driver to overtake Mayer, setting up a potential championship showdown at Show-Me.
Mayer's co-driver, Dillon McKenna, has already secured the Central Region Overall Co-Drivers' Championship, but Matalas' co-driver Dustin Sharkozy stands a chance to finish in the top three with a fifth-place overall finish or better.
Matalas and Sharkozy are also in a strong position to take the Naturally Aspirated Four-Wheel-Drive (NA4WD) Central Regional Championships. Matalas leads the Drivers' Championship in his 1995 Subaru Impreza LX, with no entered competitors able to overtake him, while Sharkozy trails absent Co-Drivers' Championship leader Betsy Nguyen by just two points.
Fortunately for Sharkozy, a classified finish in the three-car class will give him more than enough points to take the title, with competition coming from the 2009 Subaru Impreza of Blake Landre and Matthaeus Riegerix, and the 1995 Subaru Impreza of Ty Crawford and William Ho.
In Limited Four-Wheel-Drive (L4WD), Scott Crouch is beyond the reach of the entered competitors and is set to win the Drivers' Championship, while a fourth-place class finish or better for him and co-driver Elizabeth Crouch in their 2002 Subaru WRX would put her ahead of McKenna to take the Central Region Co-Drivers' Championship.
Farrow also has the opportunity to overtake Mayer for second in the Central L4WD Drivers' Championship, while pursuing the Overall title.
With seven cars in class and an Overall Championship potentially on the line for Farrow, the competition is sure to be tight.
Other entries include the 2005 Mitsubishi Evo of Lucas Mozes and Ben Zapsky, the 1998 Subaru Impreza of Douglas and Jennifer Voss, and the 2016 Volkswagen Golf of Michael Laguna and Dan Nguyen.
Junior Irish Champion Joins Nine-Car O2WD Field
As the largest class at Show-Me this year, the nine-car Open Two-Wheel-Drive (O2WD) field features a wide array of FIA-homologated and home-built machinery, with young stars and experienced veterans alike taking to the Missouri stages.
Making his ARA debut, 17-year-old two-time Irish junior rally champion James McShea will pilot a Peugeot 208 Rally4 at Show-Me, with co-driver Liam Callaghan at his side.
The son of 2004 Production World Rally Champion Niall McShea, James comes from a family with generations of rallying experience. In 2025, he won the Irish Forest Rally Championship J1000 title in a Volkswagen Up!, earning the Craig Breen Foundation prize package for 2026, before going on to win the 2026 Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series Class 2A Championship in a Peugeot 208 R2, securing the title at October's Donegal Harvest Rally.
Now, McShea will look for his first victory on American soil, but will have to contend with eight other competitors to make it happen, including Mike Hurst and Dylan Stevens in their SOLHAVN Cellars-backed, V8-powered 1974 Ford Capri.
"The team is trying to end the season on a high note for the SOLHAVN Cellars Capri," Hurst said. "We had a rare DNF due to a double puncture on Al's playground at LSPR."
Originally from Kirkwood, Missouri, but now based near Indianapolis, Hurst will be joined by St. Louis-based co-driver Dylan Stevens, who grew up in Show-Me's host town of Potosi. Regular co-driver Randall Short will instead take on crew chief duties for the weekend.
For Stevens, Show-Me is a homecoming more than two decades in the making, having first been introduced to rallying through his mother, who worked for the U.S. Forest Service and helped survey roads for the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood.
"Being a dumb pre-teen who had never seen Rally before, I complained when she dragged me out to a stage," Stevens recalled. "I'm so glad she did though because I was instantly hooked."
Stevens went on to volunteer as a stage marshal throughout his teenage years before finding his way into the co-driver's seat while attending college in Rolla, Missouri. After hearing that fellow student Chris Martise was building a grassroots rally car and looking for a co-driver, Stevens decided to introduce himself.
"I had been around rally enough to know how to properly keep time, and I literally learned how to drive a car on this year's SS3/SS6," Stevens explained. "I felt like I was a good candidate, so I introduced myself and volunteered. Chris agreed, and we signed up for our first race!"
After several years of intermittent co-driving opportunities, Stevens returns to his home stages alongside Hurst, hoping to add another result to his rallying résumé.
"I grew up in Potosi, so Show-Me Rally is my home race. Mike is an excellent driver, and these are some of my favorite stages," Stevens said. "I'm looking forward to helping him stand on the podium!"
Also returning to Show-Me are two-time reigning O2WD winners Ryan George and Heather Stieber, making their first appearance since last year's event in their 1995 BMW M3. Adam VanDamme and Morgan Engle will look to impress in their humble 1985 Volkswagen Golf, while Michael Myers makes the step from a Limited Two-Wheel-Drive (L2WD) Ford Fiesta ST to a Peugeot 208 Rally4 alongside co-driver Lauren Schmitt.
Among the remaining competitors, Doug Leibman and co-driver Kevin Schatz could claim their respective Central Regional O2WD Championships with a second-place class finish or better in their 1971 Volkswagen Super Beetle. With the high-powered machinery they'll face on Show-Me's fast gravel roads, however, it will be a tall order, though certainly not impossible.
All-Women ‘Like Other Girls Rally Team’ Makes Debut at Show-Me
Making her stage rally debut at Show-Me in the Like Other Girls Rally Team's 2000 BMW 323i, Kelly Conroy will lead an all-women team with 2024 ARA National L2WD Co-Drivers' Champion Michelle Miller calling notes.
With several team members new to the sport, Conroy has spent months fundraising and preparing for Show-Me under the guidance of Miller and fellow competitor Kelsey Stephens.
“Our goals as a team are to learn, make new friends, build confidence, have fun, and finish our very first race as the Like Other Girls Rally Team,” Conroy said.
“We've been blown away by the generosity of everyone who wants to see us get out there on the stages. We also have incredible sponsors including DirtFish Women in Motorsport, Hoosier, Mele Media, Apexiel, The Paddock PNW, Erik's European Auto Repair, and Integrated Technical Solutions.”
“Our motivation is not only to give our all-women's team this empowering learning experience but also to inspire every other girl and woman watching and show them that they can do it too.”
For Conroy, the opportunity also carries personal significance, with her husband and children planning to attend Show-Me and cheer her on.
"I am so proud to be showing my daughter and my son what it looks like for a mom to invest in herself and her community, face her fears, work hard, and accomplish something so incredibly cool!"
Joining her in L2WD, 2022 National L4WD Champion Chris Sladek brings the Honda of America Racing Team (HART) 2023 Acura Integra to Show-Me alongside co-driver Charlie Discoe, while Missouri rally regulars Matthew and Richard Shinn return to the stages in their 2002 Ford Focus.
Greg Haley enters Show-Me leading the Central L2WD Drivers' Championship by two points over Tevfik Peker, who is not entered. Haley's co-driver Max Sutton, however, needs a second-place class finish or better in their 1994 Volkswagen Golf to overtake current Co-Drivers' Championship leader Jamie Beliveau.
Show-Me Rally kicks off Saturday, November 7, with Parc Exposé beginning at 10:00 a.m. in front of the Washington County Courthouse in downtown Potosi, followed by the official start at 10:30 a.m. Follow the action live on the ARA social media channels and ara-rally.com.
To see images for Show-Me Rally - visit the 2026 Show-Me Rally gallery on Apexiel
~Mason Runkel for the ARA
