Rangely Colo. ~ The 2024 running of Rally Colorado presented by Flatirons Subaru has come to an end after 116 miles of rallying through desert heat, and dusty trails.
The 90° sunny weather made for overheating engines and team members alike as they navigated the beautiful, sweeping stages of the Colorado Great Western Region.
Overcoming the heat made finishing the Super Regional Rally that much sweeter for the 17 teams that made it to the end of all 12 stages on Sunday, as it was a true test of man and machine to get through the difficult conditions.
The rally festivities started on Friday evening with a Parc Exposé outside of the Rangely Automotive Museum, followed by a parade of all 22 rally cars down Main Street lead by the entire police force and fire service and a beautifully restored ALF Speedster from the museum.
After the parade teams turned in for the night and made their final preparations for the first stage of the rally that would come Saturday morning.
It didn’t take long for the drama to start on Rally Colorado. The 1988 Honda CRX of Bret Hunter and Matt Holl suffered a roll at the crest of a hill on SS1 after Wickberg had gone through. While Hunter and Holl were okay, the CRX blocked the stage and caused the rest of the stage to be canceled.
Despite the issues, a very close top three formed out of the first stage, as the first four cars all finished within six seconds of each other on the nearly 13-mile “Valley of the Gods” stage.
The 2001 Impreza RS of Jacob and Michael Despain came out on top taking an early lead in the rally, while the 2003 WRX of Chris and Lori O’Driscoll came out just 1.3 seconds behind. Steve Bis and Kelly Keefe also put their 2016 VW Golf R in podium position early on, while Camerion Gholson and Jeremy Agostino sat just behind them in fourth with their 2012 WRX.
Bis and Keefe moved into second place on SS2, swapping places with the O’Driscoll car, which would go on to lose seven minutes to an issue on SS3, leaving them in 14th. Camerion Gholson and Jeremy Agostino inherited the third-place spot, and held onto it for the rest of the day, making it to the halfway point of the rally in strong podium contention.
While Despain held the lead of the rally and the NA4WD class, Bis held a strong second place, as well as the lead in O4WD despite battling through a few issues to make it happen.
“All day we were battling an overheating issue with the car but we can just keep the temps in the safe zones with pace management and a bit of short shifting,” he said.
The second loop was better for the VW, after Bis and Keefe changed their rear shock setup and had a swept racing line. With spot-on pace notes and a refined setup, the crew hit the stages with more confidence and managed a stage win over the Despain car on the first stage of the loop.
This confidence in the car helped the crew out of a difficult situation on the final stage of the day as well. As Bis described:
“With about 1 mile to go on yesterday's final stage, I misjudged a right-three after a very fast section, off-line and off my breaking point we left the road.”
“I committed to my error and pointed the car straight off the road, without it we would have rolled. We drove through a knee-high berm that the car plowed through and off a four or five-foot drop off. We got lucky the drop was not taller and there was nothing but open desert and plant life to run into.”
“We quickly found a way back on the road 100 feet later after our detour and lost about 10 seconds.”
At the end of day one, Bis led his class by 10 minutes and 45 seconds over second place Arto Ylikangas and James Veatch, and third place Ryan Bouffioux and Steven Winnat. The 1997 WRX of Sean Dorrough and Andrea Lauria started the day in second place but retired from the second day after suffering an off caused by the steering wheel of the car coming off in Dorrough’s hands.
Gholson and Agostino led the L4WD class after day one with the O’Driscoll car moving back into seventh overall and second in class by the end of the day, overtaking third-in-class Robert Shibao and Dillon McKenna on the final stage of the day.
The O2WD 1985 Toyota Tercel of Steven and Lauren Olona led its class and sat fourth overall at the end of day one, with Tony Chavez and Sterling Smith sitting second in class.
Finally, the L2WD class was led by Chris and Michelle Miller at the end of the first day. The duo took their Scion FR-S to a nearly six-minute lead over the rest of the field. Cameron Gransee and Jacob Hickman sat second in their 2014 Ford Fiesta, and Radek Wlodarczyk and Cindi Carlson held third in their 2010 Honda Fit.
For the final day of the rally on Sunday, drama once again struck on the first stage, SS7 “Douglas Creek”, when third place Gholson and Agostino rolled early in the stage, causing another canceled stage. Despite having to retire from the rally, both team members are okay.
The surprise retirement meant that the O2WD Tercel of the Olonas moved into third overall, and the L4WD class lead was inherited by the 2003 WRX of Chris and Lori O’Driscoll.
The O4WD leaders Bis and Keefe also suffered a retirement later on SS10 despite picking up another stage win on the first stage of the day. In their place, the 2002 WRX of Ylikangas and Veatch moved into the lead, and the Impreza of Evan Yonkers and Nicholas Leas moved into third overall, with the Olonas taking second.
After a whole day of chasing the Olona’s Tercel, Yonkers and Leas entered the final loop just 16.3 seconds behind and pushed to make up as much time as possible. Despite gaining over nine seconds, they weren’t able to overtake, but still managed a podium position at the end of the day, with the Olona’s putting their RWD Tercel Wagon in second overall.
“We’re so excited to have finished!” Lauren Olona said. “It was great to have a little redemption from our 2021 roll on Earls Revenge! Thank you to all the volunteers and organizers for making the event happen!”
Even though he came close to second, Yonkers was still thrilled to be on the podium.
“The weekend was an absolute blast and a challenge to overcome.” he explained. “We went into this with a new engine platform untested in the form of a swapped Subaru H6 3.0L motor.”
“The original engine that I had bought and just got running had bad bearings and I had to source and swap in another longblock two nights prior to towing out here. Once out here we had some electrical issues and power steering issues throughout the weekend.”
“We also tried to keep temps down on the new motor often short-shifting well below the redline. Nonetheless, we kept pace up and had a great time running Dragon Trail and surviving the infamous Douglas Creek.”
“Many thanks to all the organizers and volunteers who make this event happen, this community is wonderful and a large reason we've been doing this each year for the last three events. Already looking forward to next year!”
Topping the overall podium after all stages were completed was the Black Hole Rally Team Subaru Impreza RS of the Despain family, who won by a massive margin of nine minutes and 25.6 seconds.
While Despain and Yonkers took first and second in the NA4WD, the class podium was finished by Albert Goad and Loren Bench in their 2007 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS.
The L4WD class was won by Chris and Lori O’Driscoll’s 2003 WRX despite falling as far back as third in class after an issue on SS3. Shibao and McKenna finished second, while Wickberg and Trott completed the podium.
"We really loved the rally, some of the best stages in the country. Fun flowing, narrow and technical all in one. Even the service park is probably the best around. Gotta love classic Colorado atmosphere." ~ Chris O'Driscoll
Ylikangas and Veatch won the O4WD class after inheriting the lead from Bis and Keefe on SS10. Bouffioux and Winnat stood second on the podium, and Jacob Sturgeon and Maribel Plaza’s “Devastator” 1997 Subaru Impreza took home third.
Finally, Chris and Michelle Miller took the L2WD win in their Scion FR-S, with Gransee and Hickman in Second, and Wlodarczyk and Carlson third.
"Such a fun and demanding event. While this was an event to shake out the new car taking the win in L2wd was a great bonus. We played a smart game driving to gain experience and taking it easy over the rough bits. It paid off and we had a blast. Our team was on it and kept everything running smoothly and kept us cool! Thank you to the great volunteers and event organizers for a well run event with some fun unique bits with the parade, BBQ, and champagne for all!" ~ Michelle Miller
Still celebrating in fourth was the 1996 BMW 318i of Berck Nash and Jack Penley, who managed their first stage rally finish after attempting Rally Colorado the past three years!
“I've raced a vintage Formula Vee against my now co-driver Jack Penley for years, and he got me into rally a few years ago,” Nash said. “I'm astounded at just how hard a sport rally is and am blown away by the grit and determination of everyone in the sport.
“Just finishing this rally feels like a tremendous accomplishment, and one I'm extremely proud of. I've received nothing but encouragement from the rally community as a whole, and I'm thrilled to finally feel like I belong in rally.”
Rally Colorado this year was also a part of the California Rally Series, a championship which sometimes overlays onto ARA events that some competitors enter. While Jacob Despain was the winning driver at this event for the CRS, the winning navigator was Loren Bench, who was co-driving for Albert Goad in the NA4WD class.
Rally Colorado organizers also awarded the KUBO Spirit Award for the first time this year in memory of the late Kubo Kordisch who passed away at the Show Me Rally last year.
The award fittingly went to Cindi Carlson, who was scheduled to be Kubo’s navigator on his last two rallies but was unable to after being injured in an incident at Rally Colorado in 2023. Despite multiple broken bones and at least four surgeries, she pushed forward and returned to Rally Colorado this year finishing third in class.
"I was so excited to reach the final MTC with Radek! All I wanted this year was to finish the race. But my emotions caught up with me soon after we parked. Kubo had been so excited and encouraging when I told him I was ready to get back into rally following my bad crash last year.
I just thought that he would be here to see me cross the finish line for Rally Colorado ‘24. But as Angel gave her speech about the Kubo Spirit Award, I realized he WAS here. I’m honored to be the first recipient of this award, and it means so much to me to be part of all of the best things this rally family is about: hard work, persistence, and a desire to kick butt and be silly." ~ Cindi Carlson
In addition to this award, two teams were officially recognized for their textbook responses to on-stage incidents, following safety protocol flawlessly and ensuring the wellbeing of their competitors. The teams of Steven and Lauren Olona and the team of Evan Yonkers and Nicholas Leas were both recognized for their response to Gholson and Agostino’s accident on the Douglas Creek stage, and Olona’s team was additionally recognized for their response to Hunter and Holl’s rollover on SS1.
The next stop for the ARA is the Eastern Super-Regional next weekend at the Boone Forest Rally in McKee, Kentucky. The ARA West Championship picks up again at the Prescott Rally in Prescott, Arizona September 20-21. Follow more information, click here.
~Mason Runkle, for the ARA
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