Show-Me Rally Closes ARA’s 2025 Season and Hints at Epic 2026
- masonrunkel
- 5 minutes ago
- 7 min read
Potosi, Mo. (November 7, 2025) ~ This weekend, the 2025 American Rally Association (ARA) season comes to a close on the high-speed gravel roads of the Mark Twain National Forest in Washington County, Missouri as Show-Me Rally, the final event in the ARA Central Region Championship, rounds out a full annual slate of eight ARA National events, 11 Super Regionals, seven Regionals and five RallySprints.
But while Show-Me marks an ending, it’s also the start of something new and exciting as two freshly prepared rally cars from longstanding MINI USA racing partner LAP Motorsport will be among the competitors.
ARA Returns to Mark Twain Territory
Show-Me Rally is hosted by the 100AW Performance Rally Group—the same organizer-group behind the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, round two of the ARA National Championship Presented by Kubota—and shares many of the same wide, high-speed roads as its National counterpart.
For 2025, Show-Me Rally features a single day of competition spanning 10 stages, three loops, and 68 competition miles, offering some of the highest-commitment stages on the ARA calendar. The event begins with a Parc Exposé in downtown Potosi at 10:00 a.m., followed by the first car leaving the start line at 11:00 a.m. to tackle “Twain’s Vineyard West.”
From there, competitors move on to “Bridge to Moses” before repeating the opening two stages and heading into the first service. The rally’s final two loops take on “Kingston South,” “Floyd Tower to Berryman,” and “Pidgeon Roost East,” before wrapping up with an awards ceremony at the Twin Eagles Lake Campground service park.
MINI Identifies as “Rally Curious”
Photos courtesy of MINI
Joining the American Rally Association for the first time, LAP Motorsports is set to debut a two-car MINI effort featuring a Limited Two-Wheel-Drive (L2WD) MINI Cooper 2 door hardtop and a Limited Four-Wheel-Drive (L4WD) John Cooper Works MINI Countryman.
The Brownsburg, Indiana-based outfit, long known for its partnership with MINI USA, plans to run the two MINIs with minimal modifications in a pair of ARA regionals this year, revisiting the brand’s storied rally roots and testing to see if modern rallying is a good fit for MINI’s ongoing motorsports efforts.
Initial modifications made for Show-Me are safety-oriented. The team intends to continue developing the vehicles in the coming months, but with ARA’s L2WD and L4WD class rules allowing limited modifications from factory components, the expectation is that MINI’s core performance capabilities will authentically shine through.
Countryman driver and team owner Luis Perocarpi brings deep ties to MINI through years of road-racing and desert competition, including class wins at the Sonora Rally in 2018 and 2023. Despite his circuit racing pedigree, Perocarpi’s résumé makes him well-suited for the jump to ARA stages.
His son, Cristian Perocarpi, will take the wheel of the L2WD MINI Cooper. With experience in both road and desert racing under the LAP Motorsports banner, the younger Perocarpi is expected to make a strong impression in his first ARA outings.
The father-and-son duo are joined at Show-Me by co-drivers Mark Wells and David Quillen, and the team will be supported in part by technicians from the MINI of St. Louis and cheered on by a contingent of dealership employees and MINI owners from the area.
MINI’s plans for 2026 and beyond are still taking shape, but with Honda having recently unveiled its ARA-ready Civic Type R HRC Rally XP and additional OEMs testing the waters, next year could be an epic one for American Rally.
Carlson Honors the Late Kubo Kordisch With First Rally Since Accident
The 2025 Show-Me Rally marks two years since the unfortunate passing of rally lover and community force Kubo Kordisch after an on-stage incident, but in his honor, co-driver Drew Carlson has spent that time building an Open Four-Wheel-Drive (O4WD) Audi 200 Avant, nicknamed “Squattro,” to carry on Kubo’s legacy.
Drew’s wife, Cindi Carlson suffered her own serious wreck on stage just a few months prior in 2023, and building their car, and team, together has been a large part of their healing process and joy in the past few years.
“Cindi had her wreck in July of ’23. Kubo and I had ours just a few months later in November. Each of those could have taken us out of racing entirely without any shame or reservation, but we couldn’t and wouldn’t let that be the end of it—we didn’t want our story to be punctuated with dread and storm clouds.
“We wanted to show strength in an incredibly difficult time, not just for us, but for anyone else that had suffered tragedy alongside us or on their own. In a way, we felt like we had an opportunity to re-write our story into something of inspiration and perseverance.
“There’s the rally mantra, ‘press on regardless,’ which feels like both a trope and a mandate. We didn’t want to let anyone down, but I got the sense we had the support of literally everyone in the rally community.”
Running Kubo’s 436, the Audi is competing in its first stage rally after a few rallycross events, and this year’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. For Show-Me, Michelle Miller will be co-driving for Carlson.
“I am honored and excited to co-drive with Drew at Show-Me Rally. After getting to know him and Cindi, it means a lot to be alongside him for his first stage rally in Squattro and to be running Kubo's number .”
Hondas Headline Large L2WD Class
With eight cars entered, the Limited Two-Wheel-Drive (L2WD) class stands as the largest and most competitive of the Show-Me Rally, accounting for more than 40% of the total field.
Alongside the new MINI Cooper of Cristian Perocarpi, three Honda entries are expected to shine on Missouri’s fast, flowing stages. The Honda of America Racing Team (HART) returns with two cars: the 2023 Acura Integra of 2025 Central Regional L2WD Champion Gabriel Nieves with Michael Kaiser calling notes, and the 2017 Honda Civic piloted by Weston Davis and Charlie Driscoe.
Like MINI, the engineer-led HART Rally Team runs its cars with minimal modifications, focused on safety and reliability, to highlight the performance of factory components in true rally conditions.
Looking to defend their 2024 Show-Me Rally class victory, Nicholas Bukky and Robert Kassel return in their Honda Fit. With two regional class championships already under their belt, Bukky is expected to be a major contender in L2WD once again.
Other entrants include Doug Leibman and Kevin Schatz in a 1971 Volkswagen Super Beetle, Gavin Guyer and Tessa Jordan in a 2011 Ford Fiesta, and Erik and Clarissa Votipka in their 1988 Volkswagen Golf.
The Open Two-Wheel-Drive (O2WD) field also promises tight competition with four entries. Ryan George and Heather Stieber make their return in a 1995 BMW M3, their first appearance since winning the 2024 Show-Me Rally O2WD class, while East Region O2WD Championship leader Emmons Hathaway, co-driven by Zane Jackson, joins the mix. Adam Brock and Sara Nonack will campaign their 1989 Volvo 244, and Steve Rowlands and Zach Stephens take on their second event in a 2001 BMW 330i.
NA4WD Class Brings Mix of Experience and First-Timers to Show-Me Rally
At the front of the field, two Naturally Aspirated Four-Wheel-Drive (NA4WD) entries are expected to set the pace at the 2025 Show-Me Rally.
Tayler Hoevenaar brings four years of Sno*Drift experience to gravel for the first time in the Fervor Motorsports 1999 Subaru Forester, co-driven this weekend by Noah Macomber.
Meanwhile, second-place Central Region NA4WD competitors Dustin Peterke and Robert Judge look to seal a championship win with a strong finish in Missouri.
“Show-Me Rally was the first stage rally Dustin Peterke and I did last year,” Judge said. “This was an absolute blast as a first time, especially placing second in class. For this year we are aiming to end the regional season at Show-Me and hopefully secure our place in the Central Regional Championship.
“This was our plan starting this year, and it’s definitely cool to end it at Show-Me, especially after our rollover at Ojibwe this year.”
Hoevenaar and Macomber are eager to prove themselves on gravel — and for Macomber, to prove himself as a co-driver after an inspiring recovery.
“Show-Me Rally will be my first actual gravel rally, aside from Sno*Drift 2024 which was mud and dirt,” Hoevenaar said.
“Noah and I had planned to start rallying together once I completed the Forester build; however, Noah suffered a horrific motorcycle crash. He was told that he would not be able to walk again, but he has spent his time since defying what he was told.
“Our goal for the event is to finish! My brothers were kind enough to come crew for us, so this will be a fun event all around.”
The Really Rally Team of Ethan Hunter and Cole Clements could also impress, though two DNFs in as many rallies led to what they called “insane paranoia preparation” ahead of their first-ever Show-Me Rally in their 1995 Subaru Impreza.
“Coming off a DNF at Sno*Drift due to a lost oil line from the oil cooler that windowed our block, we were determined to make Rally Colorado our next mission,” Hunter said.
“Rally Colorado was going spectacularly, but darkness loomed in the second-to-last stage with a three-minute lead over third place. Sitting comfortably in second place on cruise control pace, we had a fuel line rupture that inevitably took us out of the rally.
“So the Show-Me Rally, to us, is important. We are showing up to first finish before we finish first!
“Making the podium is always our main goal on any given race weekend, but Show-Me Rally is going to be our official shakedown after an insane, rigorous refresh on the Really Rally steed so we can be better prepared and sorted for Sno*Drift 2026!”
The final NA4WD entry is first-time rallyist Blake Landry, co-driven by William Ho in their 2009 Subaru Impreza.
“Since I was young, my grandpa and I would volunteer as course marshals at 100 Acre Wood. This lit a fire in me to build a car after my first rally. I am 20 now and still consider myself young, but this has been my dream and I’m glad to finally achieve it.
“I bought a 2009 Subaru Impreza from my grandpa that sat on our work lot for months just rotting. Grandpa sold it to me for $500 because it ended up being a no-start with a snapped timing belt. I pulled the motor and got it driving.
“I’m hoping that my co-driver and I get through tech and finish. Not looking to be fast yet, just looking to gain skill and finish. Hoping to gain lifelong friendships along the way because this community has been amazing to me already — whether it be sharing parts, service, or time. Glad to be a part of rally.”
Follow the action live on the ARA social media channels and on ara-rally.com.
~Mason Runkel for the ARA