Mayer Wins STPR as Missouri Ozark Changes from Rally to Relief Effort
- masonrunkel
- Jul 14
- 7 min read
(Wellsboro, Pa., July 12, 2026) — Tom Mayer and Dillon McKenna of OK Rally Team claimed their first-ever American Rally Association (ARA) overall victory at the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally (STPR), held July 9–11 in the forest hills surrounding Wellsboro, Pennsylvania.
At the time of publication, STPR results remained provisional pending the conclusion of a Steward’s Review requested after several matters of significance were referred to the event steward.
While the weekend was intended to be a doubleheader with the Missouri Ozark Rally running in Steelville, Missouri, historic rainfall, severe flooding, and resulting damage forced cancellation of the regional event. Organizers, volunteers, and competitors already in the area sprang into action, banding together to help the local community respond to the disaster caused by more than a foot of rain that fell between Thursday night and Friday morning. Their actions epitomized what it means to be a member of the American Rally family.
Mayer Survives Mud, Pressure, and Late Issues for First Overall Win
Run as part of the 2026 ARA Eastern Regional Championship, the STPR Super Regional event marked the halfway point of the five-round championship and offered a 17-point payout to the top finisher, making it a pivotal opportunity for competitors to carry momentum into the second half of the season.
Beginning Thursday evening with two Super Special stages at the Tioga County Fairgrounds, the 28 entered cars set out for an 18-stage, 125-mile competition spanning three days of narrow, high-speed forest stages with numerous elevation changes, tight corners, and, of course, the famous Waste Management Jump.
Recent rain made conditions difficult for Thursday evening’s two Super Special stages as the dirt course turned into thick, tricky-to-navigate mud that rewarded momentum but punished any misstep.
After the two rally-opening stages, Mayer and McKenna were already leading in their RallySport Direct-backed Limited Four-Wheel-Drive (L4WD) 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX, sitting 3.3 seconds ahead of Ryan Pryzbylkowski and Nick Luther’s Naturally Aspirated Four-Wheel-Drive (NA4WD) 2001 Subaru Impreza “3.0RS.” The high-flying Open Two-Wheel-Drive (O2WD) 1998 BMW M3 of Mike Cessna and Steven Harrell sat third.
On Friday, the battle for the lead between Mayer and Pryzbylkowski raged as the stages flew by. Pryzbylkowski took the lead on SS4, held it by 0.4 seconds on SS5, then dropped back to second by 3.9 seconds to Mayer on SS6 to finish the first loop of the day.
On SS7, the NA4WD car took the lead again before dropping back to second by just 0.1 seconds on SS8. Unfortunately, the tense battle came to a halt on the final stage of the day as Pryzbylkowski suffered a transmission failure that forced him and Luther to retire on SS10. The pair returned on the final day, but with more than 11 minutes lost.
With Pryzbylkowski out of the overall fight, Mayer and McKenna sat a comfortable minute and 28 seconds in the lead heading into the final day, with Derek James and KJ Miller second in the James World Rally Team (JWRT) Open Two-Wheel-Drive (O2WD) Ford Fiesta R2 and the NA4WD “War Weasel Wagon” 2005 Subaru Impreza of Dan Shirley and Eric Eisele third.
Despite alternator issues on Saturday and a one-minute penalty for a late check-in at service, the No. 432 Subaru finished the rally in first place by two minutes and 40 seconds over the War Weasel, with the O2WD ANY% 2013 Subaru BRZ of Chris and Sara Nonack completing the overall podium in third.
In addition to the overall victory—the first of his American Rally career—Mayer also took the L4WD class win. Niall Donnelly and Gage Gregory spent the first and second days in second place in class in their 2007 Subaru WRX STI until Friday’s final stage, where they dropped to fourth. On Saturday, James Pryzbylkowski and Ethan Curtis moved into second in their 2004 Subaru WRX and held the position to stand on the class podium at the end of the event, while Donnelly and Gregory made their way back to third.
Though they missed the overall podium, Ryan Pryzbylkowski and Nick Luther managed second in the NA4WD class behind Shirley and Eisele, while Ben and Andrew Zapsky finished third in class in their 2007 Subaru Impreza. For the War Weasel team, the class victory is their first, coming on the event where they debuted their newly flat-six-swapped configuration.
“We had an amazing weekend,” Shirley said. “The build held up great, and all we really struggled with were the brakes being too small. We were basically running at about 90% pace to learn how to drive the car, and that meant we never really had any big moments. It was just smooth and steady. Amazing to have a few fastest stages too. Basically, we’re calling this mission accomplished!”
ANY% Wins Hard-Fought O2WD Class Victory on New Car Debut
Coming into STPR, the top O2WD contenders were always expected to be in the mix for an overall podium, if not the outright victory.
Last year’s overall winner Mike Cessna returned with Steven Harrell in his 1998 BMW M3, while local favorite Derek James entered his hometown rally in the James World Rally Team (JWRT) Ford Fiesta R2 with KJ Miller in the passenger seat. Joining them at the front of the class was the prolific Limited Two-Wheel-Drive (L2WD) ANY% crew of Chris and Sara Nonack, who debuted their brand-new 2GR-swapped O2WD 2013 Subaru BRZ after years in the making.
Beyond the main trio, five more entries were ready to prove themselves against STPR’s top O2WD competitors.
Cessna took the initial lead with wins on both Super Special stages Thursday night, with James in second and the 2012 Mazda 2 of Spiro Voudouris and Lilly Schwartz in third. The ANY% BRZ sat fourth as the team began working toward its goal of learning the car on its first event.
On Friday morning’s forest stages, James surged into the lead while Nonack moved into third, steadily becoming more comfortable with the car as the event progressed.
Cessna battled vacuum leaks and a puncture on Friday’s stages, with the puncture costing him three minutes and dropping him behind Nonack on SS8.
On the final day of the rally, James found himself in real contention for the overall victory heading into the final loop. But on a hard push for the win, he snapped an axle and was forced to retire from the class lead on SS15, allowing Nonack to capitalize for ANY%’s first overall podium and first O2WD class victory.
“I’m incredibly pleased with this first rally for the new car,” Chris Nonack said. “The engine, suspension, brakes, and general package work better than expected. I learned so much about piloting this thing, and there’s still fine-tuning to handle during re-prep.
“The result this weekend, and being on the overall podium with another freshly engine-swapped car, War Weasel, wasn’t even on our radar of possible outcomes. Bad luck for Derek and KJ, and Mike and Steve, who were running impressive times. Hats off to them.”
Cessna held on to finish second, while Michael Gillespie and Brian McNamara took third in their 1976 Ford Escort.
Guyer’s Rally History Comes Full Circle with STPR Victory
In the L2WD class, Gavin Guyer and Tessa Jordan came out on top against a diverse and seasoned field, despite STPR being just their fourth event as a team.
Before the rally, Guyer told the ARA he was excited for the event because it was where his love of rally began.
“STPR was the first rally I ever spectated,” Guyer said. “As a young kid in 2008, I watched Ken Block throw his car around a hairpin, and I was hooked for life on rally. From that day on, I dreamed of being a rally driver without ever really thinking it was possible.”
Now behind the wheel of his own rally car with his fiancée navigating, Guyer’s story came full circle with a class victory in his first STPR as a competitor.
The pair kicked off the rally third in class in their 2011 Ford Fiesta after the Super Specials, behind Tevfik Peker and Jamie Beliveau’s 2019 Ford Fiesta and Christopher Bersheim and Emilio Moran’s 1991 Nissan 240SX.
Once the rally moved into the forest stages, Guyer began to climb. He moved into the lead by SS4 before falling back to second behind Colin Serwinski and William Ross’ 1989 Toyota Corolla on SS5. By SS7, Guyer and Jordan were back in front, where they remained for the rest of the event to win the class by nearly two and a half minutes.
“STPR was a great weekend for us,” Guyer said. “Our 1.6NA Fiesta was a tank.
“Friday brought a mix of gravel and dirt/clay, plus a late-day downpour that kept conditions changing stage to stage. We weren’t checking times and were just focused on getting more comfortable in the car and getting faster each stage. At the end of the day, Tessa checked the times, and we were shocked to see we were leading.
“Saturday’s goal was still to get more comfortable in the car but see if we could hold the lead without taking big risks. Chris in his 240SX pushed us the entire weekend and kept us on our toes.
“Huge thanks to our crew, my dad, along with Din, Anela, and Adam from UNOH, who kept the car on the road all weekend. And thanks to the volunteers and spectators who make STPR happen every year. This whole weekend was a dream come true.”
Bersheim’s 240SX took second in class, while Jason Kodat and Phil Marsh took third in their 2015 Ford Fiesta ST.
The next round of the ARA Eastern Regional Championship takes competitors to the hollows of Kentucky July 25 for the Boone Forest Rally for a one-day 59-mile dash through the Appalachians.
Meanwhile, the ARA National Championship heads to Rangely, Colorado July 18-19 for Rally Colorado, round five of eight.
Complete Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally results: https://www.americanrallyassociation.org/event-results
To see images for STPR - visit the STPR 2026 gallery on Apexiel.
~Mason Runkel for the ARA
