Toyota and Quintero Fly High as Championship Chase Tightens at Attrition-Filled Rally Colorado
- masonrunkel
- Jul 22
- 13 min read
Updated: Jul 27
Update, July 27, 2026, 4:00 p.m. EDT: Following a protest hearing, the Panel of Stewards upheld the protest from Car 418, Tim Wickberg and Mathew Trott, and rescinded their exclusion from Rally Colorado. The panel found that opening the hood in end-of-event Parc Fermé, without evidence of repair, assistance, or refuelling, did not establish a violation of RCR 4.12.3 under the current ARA regulations. Wickberg and Trott have been reinstated in the official results of Rally Colorado 2026.
With the decision, Wickberg and Trott are restored as the National L2WD winners. John Barnett and Lucas Laeser move to second in class, with Ryan McGrath and Kendra Miller third. The reinstatement also changes the Subaru For the Love of Rally contingency payouts, with Wickberg and Trott now the third-highest-finishing non-factory Subaru for a prize of $250.
(Rangely, Colo., July 22, 2026) — TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team (TGR-WRT) earned its third straight American Rally Association (ARA) National Championship victory at Rally Colorado, held July 18–19 in the high desert surrounding Rangely, Colorado.
Run as a National event for the first time—and giving all the dusty and dramatic vibes of the World Rally Championship’s (WRC) Acropolis Rally Greece—Rally Colorado quickly established itself as one of the most punishing rounds on the calendar. Sandy-and-rocky roads, wide-open exposures, high altitude, higher temperatures, and even surprise rainstorms tested competitors across every class, turning the two-day event into a battle of speed, survival, and damage control.
Overall, 67 teams started the 137-mile itinerary, with the championship-leading Hyundai team of Lia Block and Alex Gelsomino entering as favorites, Toyota’s Seth Quintero and Topi Luhtinen carrying momentum from their first ARA win together at June’s Southern Ohio Forest Rally (SOFR), and Mexican National Champion Ricardo Cordero and Marco Hernandez debuting their brand-new Lancia Ypsilon HF Integrale Rally2 ahead of a planned full-season ARA campaign in 2027.
With countless tire punctures, overheating issues, and wildly variable road conditions, the 2026 running of Rally Colorado will be remembered as one of the most challenging events the ARA National Championship has seen.
Quintero and Luhtinen Master Attrition for Rally Colorado Victory
The town of Rangely, Colorado welcomed the rally field the same way it has in years past, with a Friday evening Parc Exposé and Main Street Parade outside the Rangely Automotive Museum giving fans a chance to see the cars up close and meet the drivers before competition began Saturday morning.
When the rally did start, it was the Rockstar Energy-backed Block House Racing Hyundai i20 Rally2 of Block and Gelsomino leading after SS1, 5.3 seconds ahead of Subaru Motorsports USA’s (SMSUSA) Travis Pastrana and Rhianon Gelsomino in their Limited Four-Wheel-Drive (L4WD) Subaru WRX ARA25L. The TGR-WRT Toyota GR Corolla Rally RC2 of Quintero and Luhtinen sat third, 7.8 seconds off the lead.
Quintero quickly found his footing, however, winning SS2 and SS3 to take the lead while early-rally fuel-delivery issues—likely the result of combined high temps and elevation—took Pastrana out of contention. Block trailed by just 1.3 seconds after SS3, but a puncture on SS4—the first of three during the weekend—cost three minutes, dropping her to fourth and promoting the Lancia team of Cordero and Hernandez to second and the 2021 Ford Fiesta Rally2 of Javier Olivares and KJ Miller to third.
Heavy rain and flooding after competition on Saturday damaged roads making up “Quest for Darwin,” which was intended to serve as SS8 and SS11 on Sunday. Both stages were cancelled as a result, but the rally continued on a shortened Day Two itinerary.
Block kicked off Sunday’s action by moving back into third on SS7, while the leaders settled into a rhythm built around avoiding the retirements and delays that had already struck much of the field.
Unfortunately for Cordero and Hernandez, their Lancia suffered a puncture on SS12 that cost the team more than six minutes, dropping them to fifth before SS13, the ARA Power Stage.
Quintero and Luhtinen managed the gap to the finish, converting early stage wins and a largely trouble-free run (only one tire puncture) into their second straight ARA victory and TGR-WRT’s third consecutive American Rally win. With the result bringing Quintero within two points of Block in the overall championship, the win also confirmed Toyota’s place in the center of the title fight.
“It’s really nice to get two, because it kind of proves the point,” Quintero said. “Not to anybody else, but to myself, that I’m here to stay. The team did such an amazing job that I really couldn’t be more thankful. They made my life so easy.
“We’re in a big championship fight now, so we’ll see how it goes. I like pressure. I get a little too relaxed sometimes, so it’s nice to have the pressure. We don’t have any throwaway races. I missed the first round and didn’t finish the second, so I don’t have any left to give. It means you have to be perfect every time.”
On the final stage of the rally, Block bookended her Rally Colorado with stage wins, taking the maximum five Power Stage points with a 1.7-second victory over Quintero. The result allowed her to keep the overall championship lead by two points, 75 to Quintero’s 73, while Alastair Scully leaves Colorado third with 56.
“It’s super disappointing to have another rally be impacted by not one puncture, but three,” Block said. “But the weekend turned out the best it possibly could with those circumstances. We still got the Power Stage win, which I’m super proud of, and second overall.
“It stings a lot. I want that big trophy really bad, and I felt like this should have been the one. But it’s a lot of learning, and you only can learn as much as you lose. It’s just going to taste that much sweeter when we actually get it done.”
Olivares and Miller also picked up a well-deserved podium finish, taking third overall and in the RC2 class after a consistent showing across Rally Colorado’s punishing stages.
Healey Holds Together for First LN4 Victory
One of the classes hit hardest by the Colorado conditions was LN4, which combines Limited Four-Wheel-Drive (L4WD) and Naturally Aspirated Four-Wheel-Drive (NA4WD) competition.
SMSUSA’s Travis Pastrana and co-driver Rhianon Gelsomino were the favorites for the LN4 victory ahead of the event, and were also considered ones to watch for the overall win as one of the few National crews with previous Rally Colorado experience.
Chasing the class championship lead with current leader Mark Piatkowski absent, the Irish duo of Aoife Raftery and Hannah McKillop came into the event second in LN4 points in their DirtFish Women in Motorsport Ford Fiesta Rally3, with a clear shot at taking the championship lead with a strong performance.
Meanwhile, Black Hole Rally Team’s Jacob Despain and Jeremy Agostino brought years of Rally Colorado experience, moving from an NA4WD car to an L4WD 2002 Subaru WRX for the first time, ready to punch above their weight and prove their abilities on the National level at a rally they know well.
After SS1, it was Pastrana, followed by Raftery and Despain on the time sheets. Raftery moved briefly into the class lead on SS2, but overheating issues cost her six minutes on stage and eventually resulted in her retiring from the rally later in the day. Similarly, Pastrana battled heat-related challenges and retired from day one competition.
Heading into the second loop, Despain led over the L4WD 2012 Subaru WRX of Camerion Gholson and Andrea Lauria in second, with the Eagle Rock Racing (ERR) Ford Fiesta Rally3 of Richo Healey and Michelle Miller third as they continued just their second event in the car after years of rear-wheel-drive rally experience together.
Healey moved into second on SS5, then into first on SS6 as Despain lost more than an hour due to an off on the final stage of the day.
On Sunday, Healey continued to lead over Gholson, with Madelyn Tabor and Sophia McKee third in their Ford Fiesta Rally3. From there, Healey maintained strong pace, picked up a few stage wins along the way, and held on for his first victory in an all-wheel-drive car.
“I’m super happy to turn our streak around this year in a pretty dramatic way,” Healey said. “This rally was really hectic and there was so much attrition, so it’s a complicated feeling, to be honest. But we’re so happy, so proud, and so appreciative of our crew helping us keep it together because these roads are so tough.”
“This is our second event in all-wheel drive of any kind,” Healey added. “I’ve been a rear-wheel-drive boy up until this point, so I hope the future is really bright. I think we showed promising pace at SOFR until I gave it all up [with an off]. This weekend felt more strategic. I’m having a blast, and I’m super glad to have Michelle with me.”
On SS12, Tabor overtook Gholson for second, where she remained to the finish. On the Power Stage, Gholson, hampered by suspension damage, was passed once more by the L4WD 2008 Subaru WRX STI of Nick Pysklyvets and Roman Romanchuk, who claimed their first ARA National class podium finish as a team.
Pastrana rejoined on Sunday to chase Power Stage points, but suffered two additional punctures on SS12 and the ARA Power Stage, putting an end to his hopes.
“This was probably the toughest rally I’ve been a part of in a very long time,” Pastrana said. “It was extremely disappointing. We had some fuel issues yesterday, but the crew worked all night, switched everything out, and the car was running really well today.
“We were trying to get back out, finish the rally, and fight for Power Stage points, but we picked up a flat on the next-to-last stage and then another one halfway through the Power Stage. We had about four miles to go and tried to limp it in, but that was the end of our chance at points. It’s frustrating, but that’s rally, and we’ll move on to the next one.”
Pysklyvets and Romanchuk also won the Subaru For the Love of Rally Award, which provides cash prizes to the top three non-factory Subaru teams among National entries. Pysklyvets won $1000 for first place, while Gholson and Lauria earned $500 as the second-highest finishing Subaru privateer team, and Eliza Coleman and Ryan Scott took the $250 third place prize, as the lone NA4WD entry in the National competition.
Hooper Takes First Win of 2026, Shalev Takes O2WD Championship Lead
Coming into the fifth round of the ARA National Championship, Rally Colorado was expected to be a hinge point for the Open Two-Wheel-Drive (O2WD) National Championship.
With many of the fastest competitors missing rounds, suffering offs, mechanical failures, or costly time losses through the first half of the season, Alexander Liversidge and Tiago Lourenco led the class championship coming into Colorado, despite having driven their 2009 Mazdaspeed3 to a podium finish only once in 2026.
Consequently, top O2WD competitors came into Colorado on a mission. 2025 ARA Ken Block Rookie of the Year Award winner Matt Nykanen returned in his BMW “332i” with William Ross navigating. Michael Hooper and Michael Farrow hit the stages in the River City Rally (RCR) Lexus IS350, and Danny Shalev and Glen Ray entered in the Argonaut Motor Club Peugeot 208 Rally4, all looking to take the win.
Nykanen led from the start until a gearbox failure on SS4 forced the team to retire early on Day One, allowing Hooper to move into first, Shalev into second, and David and Drew Quillen in the MINI USA/John Cooper Works Race Team 2025 MINI Cooper JCW into third.
Nykanen returned to the stages Sunday but suffered a significant off on SS7, requiring the stage to be cancelled when his BMW rolled off a tricky corner. Nykanen was transported to the nearby hospital and treated for minor injuries. Ross was uninjured, and the rest of the field transited to the next stage.
Saturday’s top three teams carried their positions through the final stage, with Hooper earning his first win of the year, Shalev scoring enough points in second to take the O2WD-class championship lead, and the Quillen brothers finishing third, scoring the second National Class podium of the season for the MINI Cooper JCW.
“It’s my first podium, and the second podium for the team,” David Quillen said. “It was Drew’s first rally, and he had never even seen a rally car until Thursday. He did absolutely fantastic. We did a little training on the sim over the last couple weeks, came out here, and it worked out.”
The O2WD championship remains exceptionally close, with Shalev carrying 48 points, Nicholas Tippman second with 46 after finishing fourth in class at Rally Colorado, Hooper third with 45, and Liversidge tied with Andy Cowan for fourth at 44 after Cowan finished fifth in his 1990 Volkswagen Jetta VR6.
In Limited Two-Wheel-Drive (L2WD), championship leader and favorite Henry Tabor set out with co-driver Dylan Hooker in their 2018 Ford Fiesta ST, but their rally ended almost immediately with an engine failure before the first split on SS1.
The FA24D-swapped 2016 Subaru BRZ of Tim Wickberg and Matthew Trott took the lead on SS1 over Michael Myers and Lauren Schmitt in the Argonaut Motor Club 2014 Ford Fiesta ST, as the two battled for the lead by seconds through the first day’s stages. Myers and Schmitt then lost time on the final stage of the day, allowing Wickberg and Trott to take a nearly seven-minute lead over John Barnett and Lucas Laeser’s RCR 2008 Lexus IS250.
On Sunday, Myers briefly moved back into second on SS10 before falling to third on SS11, then fourth on the Power Stage as another RCR IS250, driven by Ryan McGrath and Kendra Miller, moved into third on the road.
Wickberg and Trott won the class on stage, but after pulling into Parc Fermé, Wickberg was witnessed opening the hood of his car, which is deemed an illegal service action by the ARA rules. The Clerk of the Course excluded the team from the provisional results due to the infraction .
Wickberg has protested the decision, and all National results will remain provisional until the matter is adjudicated.
Provisionally, Barnett and Laeser have been declared the L2WD winners, with McGrath and Miller second and Myers and Schmitt third.
Tabor maintains the championship lead with 70 points, with Barnett and McGrath tied for second at 63 points each.
The next round of the ARA National Championship will be the Ojibwe Forests Rally August 27-29, where the Minnesotan forests will welcome competitors for three days of rally action.
Sebot Takes Overall in O2WD Fiesta Rally4
Alongside the National Championship chase at Rally Colorado, a Super Regional event spanning the same two-day itinerary, minus the Power Stage, saw tight competition across the board as unexpected battles unfolded between teams fighting for the Western Regional Championship.
All in, 33 teams took to 12 stages across the Colorado desert, with attrition playing a major role throughout the regional field.
Without a doubt, one of the standout performances of the rally came from overall Regional winners Julien Sebot and Steven Harrell in their O2WD Ford Fiesta Rally4, who overcame punishing stages, powerful Open Four-Wheel-Drive (O4WD) competitors, and even a door falling off mid-stage to take their first overall victory.
Starting the rally with a second-place finish on SS1 before winning SS2, Sebot and Harrell flew through Saturday’s stages to finish the first day second overall, just 10.4 seconds behind the L4WD Donut Motorsports 2005 Subaru Impreza STI of Jordan O’Connell and Anthony Campbell.
On Sunday, they narrowed the gap to just 3.6 seconds before a four-minute time loss for O’Connell and Campbell on SS10 allowed Sebot and Harrell to claim a well-deserved lead, which they held going into the final stage.
On SS12, Harrell was surprised to see out of the corner of his eye that his door was falling off after contact with a large rock. With his notebook in his lap and both hands holding the door in place as best as he could, Harrell continued to read pace notes, and the pair lost only 20 seconds on the final stage to take the victory.
Brandon and Tobias Panek finished second overall in their O4WD 2007 Subaru STI, while Matt Brassfield and Kristi Berg completed the podium in their O4WD 2002 Subaru STI, taking their first podium in the new car.
Sebot and Harrell were also awarded the Ken Block 43VER Award presented by 43i, which recognizes the team that best embodies Ken Block’s “Ain’t Care” attitude, press-on-regardless mindset, and commitment throughout the rally. For their performance, 43i will cover safety equipment for the pair up to $1,430.
Behind Sebot, Mika Block placed second in O2WD on his second-ever rally in the Block House Racing Ford Fiesta R2T. Block and co-driver Gary McElhinney stayed consistent and grew their pace gradually over the rally to earn the podium, while Brian Miller and Linden Wright finished third in class, about a minute and a half behind the Fiesta.
Ylikangas Holds onto Western Championship Lead with L4WD Victory
Arto and Mary Ylikangas came into Rally Colorado with a target on their backs, leading the Western Championship with 24 points to second-place Charles Watson and Ben Triplett’s 21.
Shooting for a third straight L4WD win in their 2002 Subaru WRX, the Ylikangas crew started the rally third in class behind the Donut Motorsports 2005 Subaru Impreza STI of O'Connell and Campbell, with Chris and Lori O'Driscoll second in their 2003 Subaru WRX.
They moved up to second on SS3 and stayed there until the penultimate stage of the rally, where O’Connell’s time loss allowed them to take the lead. They held on through SS12 to stand on the top step of yet another podium, continuing their unbeaten streak since switching to L4WD last year.
O’Connell and Campbell still took second in class, while Garrett Strickland and Riley Trout made a last-stage pass to take the final podium spot by less than ten seconds in their 2004 Subaru STi.
In NA4WD, the Really Rally Team 1994 Subaru Impreza of Ethan Hunter and Alex Augustine won the class by the thinnest margin of the regional event.
Hunter took the lead on SS1 before dropping to second briefly on SS2, but never fell out of the top spot after that. Even so, Albert Goad and Loren Bench’s 2005 Subaru 2.5RS kept the pressure on as the two teams traded stage wins all weekend. In the end, Hunter and Augustine won by just 42.6 seconds, with Goad and Bench second. Third went to Eric Genack and Elizabeth Austin in their 1998 Subaru Impreza.
Finally, in L2WD, Chris Miller and Crystina Coats put on yet another dominant performance, taking the class win by over seven and a half minutes in their 2015 Scion FR-S. Berck Nash and Jack Penley placed second in their 1991 BMW 318is, while Jennifer and Terry Stonecipher took third in their 1987 Volkswagen Golf GTI.
The final round of the ARA Western Regional Championship will be the Tour de Forest Rally on October 3, a one-day event to decide the final standings.
STRYKER RX1 Makes American Rally Debut
Competing on the same stages but scored separately as an adjacent series, the STRYKER RX1 made its on-stage debut at Rally Colorado, with the likes of Lucy Block, “Texas” Dave Carapetyan, and company founder Cole Powelson putting it through its paces. The unique, custom-built car competed in Colorado as a trial by fire as STRYKER tests for improvements, and as both STRYKER and the ARA work together to evolve the concept of the series.
Complete Rally Colorado results: https://www.americanrallyassociation.org/event-results
To see images for Rally Colorado - visit the Rally Colorado 2026 gallery on Apexiel.
~Mason Runkel for the ARA
