Star-Studded Sno*Drift Rally Rings in the 2026 ARA National Season
- masonrunkel
- 6 minutes ago
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Block, GoPro, MINI, and Pastrana Among Notables Contesting ARA Season Opener
(Atlanta, Mich., February 3, 2026) — The 2026 American Rally Association (ARA) National Championship kicks off February 6–7 in Atlanta, Michigan, as the Sno*Drift Rally once again opens the season with an event unlike any other in world rallying: the world’s only snow and ice rally where studded tires are prohibited (per Michigan state law).
A strong entry list featuring new manufacturers and brands, established front-running teams and past champions, as well as competitors crossing over from other motorsport disciplines, sets the stage for an unpredictable and exciting start to the 2026 American Rally season.
Sno*Drift has long held its place as the ARA’s season opener and with grip at a premium, the event becomes a true equalizer — forcing crews to rely on precision pace notes, smart tire strategy, and disciplined driving through every corner to avoid becoming stranded in the snowbanks… or worse.
Teams will tackle a 16-stage, 108.6-mile itinerary across two days, winding through the forests of northern Michigan. Friday evening begins with a Parc Exposé in Lewiston, followed by night stages on “Meaford–Mills,” “622–East Branch,” “Black River–Camp 30,” and “Huff–Old State,” run as two loops with a 30-minute service at Atlanta High School in between.
Saturday’s action opens with a Parc Exposé at Briley Park in Atlanta before competitors head out onto the “Sage Creek–Von Dette,” “Blue Lake–Fishlab,” “Argens–Hunter,” and “Orchard–Shoreline” stages. After another service at Atlanta High School, teams repeat the first three stages before national entries conclude the rally with the “Orchard–Shoreline” Power Stage, where additional championship points are on the line.
Top Competitors Tackle Tricky Conditions in Season Opener
Among the 42 teams entered for the 2026 running of Sno*Drift are multi-time champion and action-sports mega-star Travis Pastrana. Along with co-driver Rhianon Gelsomino, the 2025 ARA Limited Four-Wheel-Drive (L4WD) champions will pilot their Subaru Motorsports USA (SMSUSA) Subaru WRX ARA25L in its first appearance at Sno*Drift. A four-time Sno*Drift winner, Pastrana brings extensive experience on snow and ice as SMSUSA showcases its latest L4WD machinery in competition.
While the WRX is a formidable contender, it will face strong opposition from the RC2-class field, with three entries joining the fray at Sno*Drift. Two-time RC2 National Champion Patrick Gruszka is once again paired with Florian Barral as they pursue their first overall National victory. They are joined by teammates Alastair Scully and Stefan Trajkov in a second Green APU-sponsored Hyundai, while Javier Castro and Ezequiel Garcia pilot the RC Competition Audi A1 Maxx Rally.
“We are preparing a totally different season for us,” Castro said. “This time I will be present as a driver in the Audi A1 Maxx Rally. At Sno*Drift, we are betting on a learning stage for the first time in snow.
“As always, we will seek to be a protagonist from the start, so that we can do the full season in this competitive RC2 with our car.”
Also returning to Sno*Drift is the 2022 Overall winner Mark Piatkowski, who enters the Naturally Aspirated Four-Wheel-Drive (NA4WD) class alongside co-driver Aris Mantopoulos in their Subaru Impreza. The pair have repeatedly proven their ability to challenge more powerful machinery on Sno*Drift’s slick roads and will be looking to do so once again in 2026.
MINI Takes a Big Step Forward in the ARA
Following a two-event stretch of “rally-curious” stage outings at ARA Central Region events at the end of 2025, MINI USA and LAP Motorsports (a.k.a. The John Cooper Works Race Team) have committed to a full-season campaign making their ARA National Championship debut at Sno*Drift.
Father-and-son team Luis and Cristian Perocarpi debuted MINI’s modern rally program in 2025, contesting the Show-Me Rally and Nemadji Trail Winter Rally in the L4WD MINI John Cooper Works (JCW) Countryman ALL4 and Limited Two-Wheel-Drive (L2WD) MINI Cooper JCW, respectively. Those events marked the manufacturer’s first taste of ARA stage rally competition as they continue developing the MINI rally machinery.
Now back with valuable snow experience gained at Nemadji Trail, the MINI entries step up to the national level. Luis Perocarpi will once again wheel the JCW Countryman ALL4, while Cristian will pilot the Cooper JCW, stepping up to the Open Two-Wheel-Drive class (O2WD) as the team takes on its most ambitious rally challenge to date.
Action-Camera Icon Makes Rally Debut
GoPro is a name known worldwide, having established the action-camera category and grown into a global powerhouse brand. This weekend, the brand—and more specifically GoPro founder and CEO Nick Woodman—will step to center stage (pardon the pun) at the Sno*Drift Rally.
Woodman enters the event in a L4WD 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX prepared by Argonaut Motor Club, tackling his first-ever stage rally after a motorsport career spanning disciplines from off-road to single-seat formula cars, including the Mint 500 to Formula 1000 competition. Beyond competition, Woodman sees rally as a natural extension of GoPro’s ethos, testing products in extreme environments while engaging directly with the community that helped build the brand.
With co-driver Ryan Scott alongside him, Sno*Drift presents a uniquely demanding introduction to stage rallying.
When asked about his goals for the weekend, Woodman kept it simple: “To learn…and finish!”
Lia Block Takes on First Sno*Drift in Rally3 Fiesta.
Fresh off announcing plans to return to rally with sights set on Europe and the Junior WRC, Lia Block is confirmed to take on her first-ever Sno*Drift Rally in an Element Rallysport Ford Fiesta Rally3, entered in the L4WD class.
The former Open Two-Wheel-Drive (O2WD) National Champion—the youngest in ARA history—will be joined for the first time by Alex Gelsomino, her father Ken Block’s longtime co-driver, as the pair tackle the snow-covered roads of northern Michigan.
“I want to stay out of the ditches and snowbanks,” she told DirtFish. “I get a test for around 40 kilometers next week, then we’re back into it. The deal was all quite last minute to do the event, but I’m really excited to be back – and with the snow in Michigan, maybe we have the perfect little, light car with not too much torque.”
“I’m sure I was at Sno*Drift with my dad when I was young,” she said, “but this is definitely the first time I’ve competed there and it’s my first time on a snow rally and first time on a snow rally without studs… it’s going to be interesting! To be honest, I just want to finish. I want to get out there, enjoy the rally and take some points.”
Block will face stiff competition within the Rally3 and L4WD ranks, including the MINI Countryman of Luis Perocarpi, the Subaru Impreza WRX of Woodman, and the Renault Clio Rally3 of 2025 Pirelli Privateer Cup champion Sean Donnelly, co-driven by Zach Pfiel. Nick Pysklyvets also enters the class in his first rally, alongside co-driver Roman Romanchuk in a Subaru Impreza WRX STI.
Two-Wheel-Drive Teams Comprise Half of National Field
Despite not being naturally suited to Sno*Drift’s low-traction conditions, the O2WD and Limited Two-Wheel-Drive (L2WD) categories make up half of the field entered in the 2026 Sno*Drift National Rally.
Defending O2WD class winners Matthew Nykanen and co-driver Lars Anderson return in their 1998 BMW 328i, looking for another class victory after narrowly missing out on a top-five overall finish at last year’s event.
Nykanen finished the 2025 season with a class win at Lake Superior Performance Rally, returning after a wrist injury at Ojibwe Forests Rally, and earning the inaugural ARA Ken Block Rookie of the Year Award presented by 43i.
“Can't wait to get back to Sno*Drift,” Nykanen said. “I had a great time last year! Luckily, the car has nearly double the power from last year, so that ought to help on the snow and ice. Listen for a different sound out on stage too, car #612 will not disappoint. We’re just looking to repeat the results of last year, and beat more fancy machinery.”
Also returning to O2WD are 2024 L2WD Champions and 2025 O2WD runners-up Richo Healey and Michelle Miller, who will contest their first Sno*Drift together as a pairing in their Lexus IS350. The duo will be looking to challenge Nykanen for class honors throughout the weekend.
After finishing third in the 2025 L2WD Championship, Nicholas and David Tippman make the move up to O2WD for the first time in 2026.
“I was ‘that crazy rookie who took on the Nationals in his first year,’” Nicholas Tippman said. “And despite being brand new to rally in general, we managed a podium position (3rd) in class by the end of the year. That was for Limited 2WD. That was our goal, and having attained it, we are moving into O2WD this year.
“Sno*Drift was my first rally ever, and I am happy to be coming back, and hopefully I redeem my abysmal speed factor I set here last year!”
In the No. 289 BMW 330i, a long-time rallyist returns to the snow for the first time in decades, as Steve Rowlands and Tessa Jordan take on Sno*Drift.
“I am looking forward to this first event, as the last time I rallied in the snow was back in the 80's on the last event of the year in Scotland, GB,” said Rowlands. “I took a small break from rallying of about 30 plus years and now live in America and am looking to do it all over again. This will be my fourth rally event since getting back in the saddle, and I am continuing to make improvements to the car.”
In the L2WD class, Santiago Iglesias returns alongside co-driver Robert Kassel in the Escuderia Boricua Rally Subaru BRZ, bringing a newly winged car back to the snow as they look to extend a streak of three consecutive podium finishes in the class.
“I’m really excited to see what the car does in the snow with all the extra downforce of the wing,” Iglesias said. “We’ve done a big overhaul of the car to try and avoid any more DNFs, so I hope this is the start of a very strong year for us. It’s our home event, so we always want to put on a good show. I look forward, as always, to showing what two-wheel-drive can do!”
While 2025 class champions Chris Cyr and Glen Ray are absent from this year’s Sno*Drift, Iglesias and Kassel will face competition from Ryan McGrath and Crystina Coats in a 2007 Lexus IS250, John Barnett and Lucas Laeser in a 2014 Ford Fiesta ST, and several other L2WD challengers.
Three-Way Shootout for Regional Win
There are few rallies where the regional field shines as brightly as it does at Sno*Drift. From patient, experienced snow-and-ice specialists to low-powered, lightweight cars that thrive in slippery conditions, Sno*Drift’s concurrent 15-stage Super Regional rally delivers nearly all the excitement of the National event—despite finishing one stage earlier on the itinerary.
Sno*Drift’s most consistently quick regional team returns once again in 2026, as Michigan native Jimmy Pelizzari and Bryce Proseus bring the No. 887 Blind Deer Rallysport 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX STI back to Atlanta, Mich. Pelizzari enters the event as the defending 2025 East Regional Overall Champion, and with four previous Regional victories at Sno*Drift, he stands apart from the rest of the 20-car field.
Chief among those looking to challenge Pelizzari are fellow L4WD competitors Gabe Jacobsohn and Jason Hack, who made significant strides in pace during the 2025 season. The pair captured their first-ever Regional victory at Overmountain Rally Tennessee and showed top-five pace at Lake Superior Performance Rally (LSPR) before an early retirement. Now they return to Sno*Drift for the first time since 2024, when Jacobsohn finished on the regional overall podium, piloting their 2004 Subaru Impreza WRX STI.
The third team expected to contend for the overall Regional win comes from the NA4WD class, where Camden Sheridan and Jeremy Frey return in their 1999 Subaru Impreza. After finishing 34th overall at Sno*Drift in 2024, the duo made a massive leap forward in 2025, finishing second overall behind only Pelizzari.
Each of the top contenders will also have to fend off strong in-class competition. In L4WD, Pelizzari and Jacobsohn will be challenged by Tom Mayer and Illon McKenna in their 2002 Subaru WRX. In NA4WD, Sheridan faces a deep field that includes Sam Jacques, who reached both the overall and class podiums during his first Sno*Drift appearance in 2023. Returning in a new car, Jacques and co-driver Kyle Cooper will be aiming for class—and potentially overall—honors in the 2026 running.
Standing out as the only non-Subaru four-wheel-drive entry in the Regional field are Tim Michel and Zachary Goldstein, representing Audi’s Quattro heritage in their 1996 Audi A4.
“I’m feeling good heading into Sno*Drift,” said Goldstein. “Before the event, I helped my driver, Tim, swap a new transmission into the Audi and tractionize a set of tires. My last two rallies were Tall Pines and The Ridge—also known as “Rut Rally”—so I’m definitely looking forward to snow- and ice-covered roads instead of what I experienced out in California.”
“Sno*Drift is challenging because there are no studs, so everyone is playing the tire game,” Goldstein added. “Suspension setups are much softer than when we race on gravel, and some teams even run near-stock suspension. And since it’s so close to home, I can usually convince friends and family to come out and watch.”
Goldstein also highlighted excitement around a notable O2WD entry.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing Larry Parker back on stage. His Porsche 911 is extremely well designed and built, and this will be its maiden voyage. I took a close look at it a few weeks ago, and it makes all the right air-cooled 911 noises. My friend Elisha will be co-driving for him—it’ll be her first Sno*Drift and her first ARA rally after competing in CRC up in Canada.”
Parker’s Porsche will compete in a four-car O2WD regional class featuring some of the most diverse machinery in the rally. Joining the 911 are Bryce and Braxton Murphy in their 1983 Toyota Corolla making its on-stage debut, Elena Huizar and Morgan Engle in a 1990 BMW 325i, and Scott James and Michelle Donovan in a 2008 Volkswagen Golf GTI.
“We are extremely excited to be competing at Sno*Drift in 2026,” said James. “This will be my fourth time competing in the cold February conditions of Northern Michigan, and my fourth rally with my sister-in-law, Michelle Donovan, as my co-driver.
“We were hoping to have my 1966 Porsche 912 engine upgrades completed in time, but unfortunately the car won’t be ready,” James continued. “Instead, we’ll be competing in my son Gavin’s 2008 Volkswagen GTI, sponsored by The Vascular Care Group, Tiny and Son’s Auto Glass, and The Colorectal Cancer Alliance.
“This rally also marks my return to competition after more than a year away. February 7, 2026, will be the one-year anniversary of my open-heart surgery to repair an aortic aneurysm. As always, our goal is to survive and finish—but I’m secretly hoping for a podium at what’s shaping up to be a brutally cold rally in beautiful Atlanta and Lewiston, Michigan.”
In the L2WD class, defending ARA East Region champions Chris and Sara Nonack return in their 2013 Subaru BRZ, aiming for their sixth consecutive class victory dating back to Overmountain Rally Tennessee in 2024.
“With the winter olympics coming up, it only seems appropriate to draw some parallels between driving at Sno*Drift and everyone's favorite winter sport: curling,” said Chris.
“As you approach a corner, much like a curler releasing a stone, you make a few fine inputs, the results of which will not fully play out for another hundred feet or more; once the car is sliding and rotating, you may continue to make increasingly frantic adjustments with the steering wheel and pedals, but much like the players sweeping the ice the actual impact on trajectory is difficult to determine and generally minimal; for quite a while after, you just slide some more, both vehicle occupants passengers completely at the mercy of previous choices, until finally you get to see where you've landed for that corner. At this point the metaphor breaks down, but, assuming you've ended up somewhere on the road, you begin the long journey of attempting to accelerate toward the next corner.
Challenging the Nonacks will be the 2025 class runner-up pairing of Chase Blakely and Michael Callaway in a 2000 Volkswagen Golf GTI GLX, along with Imogen Hompson and Steve Harrell (2012 Ford Fiesta), Jason Kodat and Phil Marsh (2015 Ford Fiesta), and the LeMons-veteran 2002 Ford Focus of Luke Quilliams and Eric Dieterich, making its ARA debut.
“Sno*Drift is one of my favorite events and will always hold a special place in my heart,” said Dieterich. “It was the first rally I entered as a driver back in 2022. The following year at ‘Son of Sno*Drift Rally’, I met my driver Luke, and we quickly became friends through racing, crewing, and volunteering together.”
“Eventually I convinced him to bring his log-booked Focus to LeMons at Road America last fall,” Dieterich added. “The car—also driven by Gabe Jacobsohn—ran a Thomas the Tank Engine livery and finished with only minor issues. Unfortunately, the Thomas face won’t be making the trip to Sno*Drift, but aside from snow tires and underbody protection, it’s the same bare-bones Focus. We’re just hoping to have fun and stay out of the snowbanks.”
Finally, in the Open Four-Wheel-Drive (O4WD) class, three unrestricted Subarus will take to the stages. Bradley Hayosh and Neil Moser bring the No. 810 2018 Subaru WRX STI, with Hayosh summing up their approach succinctly: “Hit the hydro and pray.”
Just 0.1 Speed Factor behind Hayosh, Evan Mosely and Brandon Opperthauser return in the No. 19 Springline Motorsports 2002 Subaru WRX.
“Sno*Drift will be only our second rally after completing LSPR last fall,” Mosely said. “This is our home event and where we were first introduced to rally as spectators. We’re excited to take on the new challenge of snow and ice and compete in front of friends and family.”
Rounding out the O4WD field are Michael Carr and Jeremy Agostino in the No. 985 2004 Subaru Impreza WRX STI.
Follow the action live on the ARA social media channels and on ara-rally.com.
~Mason Runkel for the ARA