Photos by Mele Media
(Potosi, Mo. November 2, 2024) ~ This weekend the 2024 American Rally Association calendar comes to an end as competitors take part in the Show-Me Rally for the Central Region Championship.
The Super Regional rally offers a 71.10-mile itinerary on Saturday, November 2 through Washington County’s backroads, marking an end to the 2024 ARA Central Region championship, and the final rally of the 2024 calendar as a whole.
Similar to the famous Rally in the 100 Acre Wood National event, Show-Me Rally offers wide, high-speed gravel roads that dance through the forests of the Show-Me state.
This year 20 competitors spread across five classes will compete for the top spot on the podium as the final ARA Championships settle to end 2024’s season in exciting fashion.
Race day begins with a Parc Exposé in downtown Potosi, Mo. starting at 9:30 AM, with competitors leaving for the first stage at 10:30 AM.
The 71-mile event is spread over 10 stages and three loops, with five unique stages.
The first loop consists of the 4.15-mile Martin Cubb West, followed by the 7.86-mile Moses to the Bridge. After repeating both stages once, competitors head to the Twin Eagle Lake Trail Service Area for the first of two services.
After service competitors make two passes on the 5.07-mile Kingston North stage before returning to the service park again.
The final loop will bring competitors through four more stages, running Pigeon Roost West Short and Berryman to Floyd Tower East twice.
After that, teams return to the service park for podium celebrations.
Gruszka Brings O4WD Mirage Out to Close Season
2023 American Rally Association RC2 Champion Pat Gruszka and Aris Mantopoulos will be first on the road this weekend at Show-Me Rally, bringing the Green APU O4WD Mitsubishi Mirage to the rally stage for the first time since 2022.
The Mirage is the same car used in the recent “Appalachian Application” short film, which features Gruszka performing stunts in Boyd County, Kentucky.
“Getting back into the mirage feels like a dream as always,” Gruszka said. “The car is incredible and I’m thrilled to see how my driving progressed from the last time I competed in the Mirage.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better event to do it at with the roads in Missouri being beautiful. With Nitrocross being placed on a pause, it felt like a no-brainer to pack the cars up and head down for Show-Me. 70 stage miles in one day was definitely the deciding factor.”
“On a side note, my team-mate Alastair Scully will be jumping into my RC2 car for the weekend. With how he has developed from the L2WD Fiesta first, then to the Nitrocross Next Evo car, it’ll be exciting to see how he fares in the RC2!”
As Gruszka mentions, Alastair Scully will be competing in his first rally behind the wheel of an RC2 machine, co-driven by Stefan Trajkov. The Hyundai i20 R5 is the same car used by Gruszka to win his 2023 Championship, and will this weekend serve as a stepping stone for Scully to learn a new vehicle.
Both Gruszka and Scully will be alone in their respective classes, but will no doubt be competing for the top of the overall podium.
John and Michael Farrow will be ones to watch this weekend as well, as just a few points this weekend will seal their victory for the Central Championship over the team of Matthew Nykanen and Lars Anderson.
The Farrow’s L4WD Subaru Impreza has three overall wins this year, making for a 100% win rate on every rally it has finished, but the two DNFs the team has picked up have made the battle tight coming into the final round.
Thankfully for the Farrow crew, they are the only competitors in the running for the Championship to enter at Show-Me, so their chances of coming away with the win are high.
In their class, they will be taking on Jordon Haberer and Andrew Staples, Taylor Jesse, and Matthew Myers, and 2024 L4WD co-driver champion KJ Miller and Sara Nonack.
Ryan Rethy and James Dallman will return for the first time since 100AW in their winged Impreza wagon to battle for the NA4WD win.
“It's been way too long since our last race, but family comes first,” Rethy said. “I just had a kid in May otherwise we would have probably added a few summer events to our agenda.”
“When there are several month gaps in our racing schedule, I'm always nervous leading up to the event that I am going to forget how to drive. Thankfully, James Dallman will be back in the car to keep me focused.”
“Show-Me always seems to cherry-pick the best roads from the stacked 100 Acre-Wood portfolio. The fast and flowing stages of this rally suit my driving style well.”
“I am looking forward to some good battles. We aren't in a position to fight for any regional titles this year, so this rally will be all about our performance in the event itself, instead of the full season, big picture.”
Rethy will be up against four other NA4WD cars this weekend, including the Impreza RS of Alex Betlach and Travis Elbert, and the GC Impreza of Allan Bolido and Makissa Upton.
For the 2WD competitors, there’s an added incentive thanks to Ryan George, the Bearded Rhino Rally Team, and the rally community as a whole donating to a 2WD Challenge fund set up in honor of the late Kubo Kordisch.
Community members donated to provide prizes for the 2WD field for everything from podium finishes, to the first DNF, and even a pity prize to the fastest 4WD car beaten by an L2WD competitor!
“I’m super excited about the 2WD Challenge that we put together this year in honor of Kubo,” George said. “We were able to raise $2,750 in total prize money for all of the 2WD competitors to fight for! Should be fun to see how everything shakes out!”
As for George, he will be competing in the O2WD class alongside co-driver Heather Steiber in their BMW M3, competing for the class win against Bruno Pinillos and Racheal Bee’s Datsun 280z, and Kyle Williams and Tyler Ragsdale’s Ford Aspire
“I’m feeling a little bit nervous but overall pretty good heading into Show-Me,” George said. “Our last rally was earlier this year at SOFR so I'm really hoping to shake off the rust quickly and just go out there and have fun.”
“Show-Me is easily one of our favorite rallies not just because the roads are super fast and fun, but because the atmosphere and vibe are just really chill. For example, service is at this awesome campground where we’ve been able to service out of our actual campsite for the past few years.”
“Then, when the rally is done, we host an after-rally party at our campsite for anyone that wants to attend. Sitting around a campfire with rally friends/family is one of my favorite activities!”
Also competing in the 2WD Challenge is the L2WD Class, which has a $200 prize for the class winner.
Five cars are entered for the class including Nicholas Bukky and Robert Kassel’s Honda Fit, Jake Burke and Eric Schlee’s BMW 323i, and Sebastian Salgado and Christian Hidalgo’s 2006 Civic Si.
For more from Show-Me Rally, make sure to follow along on the ARA’s social media, and check back after the event for the full results!
~Mason Runkle for the ARA