Rangely, Colo. ~ This weekend the Great West Region of Colorado will once again be the site of high-speed stage rally action as the 2024 running of Rally Colorado Presented by Flatirons Subaru will host 22 teams competing in the American Rally Association West Regional Championship.
July 20-21, the town of Rangely, Colorado will be the center of it all, as competitors and fans descend on the small town for a weekend of fast-paced, sweeping gravel roads, wide-open desert racing excitement, and personal, family-friendly competition among some of the best drivers in the country.
The two-day rally consists of 116 miles of The Centennial State’s best roads split across 12 stages on Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday’s stages include a loop of “Valley of the Gods,” “Quest for Darwin,” and “Earl’s Revenge,” being run twice with one service between each. Sunday’s itinerary is similar but with the “Douglas Creek,” “Dragon Trail,” and “Presser” stages instead.
Before the stage action kicks off, the town of Rangely will embrace the rally with open arms as competitors and fans alike gather for a 6:00 PM Parc Exposé at the Rangely Automotive Museum, followed by a parade down Main Street at 7:00 PM showcasing each team as they ready themselves for the weekend’s activities.
"We are excited to start the 2024 edition of Rally Colorado with immense support from FlatIrons Subaru and many other sponsors, the Town of Rangely, Rio Blanco County, The Bureau of Land Management based in Meeker and over 122 registered volunteers. This weekend should be epic!" ~ Rupert Berrington, chairman
Family Ties Strengthen at Rally Colorado
The American Rally Association and its competitors have always embraced both traditional and found family as part of its culture and core principles. Rally Colorado is a great example this year, as five cars have family members in both seats, and even more have family helping in their crew.
On top of that, the remote, small town of Rangely makes for the perfect atmosphere for “rally family” bonds to grow among crews and competitors alike as they work their way through the two-day high desert event.
One of the family teams competing this weekend is that of Chris and Michelle Miller. The husband and wife duo are no strangers to the stage with Chris being the 2023 West Region Champion, and professional co-driver Michelle having spent many a rally sitting with Lucy Block, Richo Healey, Vincent Trudell, and more, but despite that, it’s been a long time since they’ve been able to enter a rally in the same car.
“It has been three years since Chris and I have been in a car together,” Michelle explained, “so we’re very excited to team up again!”
The three years haven’t been spent in stagnation though, while Michelle was honing her co-driving skills at events across North America, Chris was perfecting his driving prowess and switched out his 2003 Ford Focus for a 2015 Scion FR-S.
“Both of us have a lot more experience now and with a new build and drivetrain it will be fun to work together again and get the car sorted,” she said.
But for the Millers, the family ties don’t stop with them, their whole crew is comprised of their trusted rally family that they’ll be spending all weekend with,
“A really cool part of this event is having our long-time service team and friends Lenny and Ricky Sithong and Anie Davies tow the car down from Seattle so we could fly in and make a bit of a race-cation out of the event. We had a great trip down and are charged up for recce!”
“Rally Colorado is one of my favorite events. We stay in the college dorms and cook meals together as a team and hang out with the volunteers so it’s great for bonding and creating that rally family environment.”
“The Friday Parc Expose and parade is a blast - we have five pounds of candy to throw from the car. Really hoping there is a bake sale at service again!”
Of course, you can’t talk about rally families at Rally Colorado without talking about the father and son team of Micheal and Jacob Despain known as the Black Hole Rally Team, who will be looking to take the overall win for the third year in a row in their 2001 Subaru Impreza RS.
“As a family team, we are always excited for our yearly trip to Rangely,” Jacob said. “This was our first rally ever in 2020 and it’s always nice to come back to fight for the win. Even though it’s always incredibly hot and the stages can be rough, it’s a good time!”
As far as “rally family” goes, Jacob has had plenty of experiences over the years at Rally Colorado as well.
“Every time we come to this event we always see teams helping teams. We have also received help/helped other teams over the years. If it wasn’t for Chris Miller towing us and Scott Crouch lending us an axle we wouldn’t have finished last year's Rally Colorado. We were able to help Eliza Coleman and Rhiannon by towing them back to service after the final stage back in 2020.“
Rally also has the ability to strengthen bonds through teamwork and perseverance. The husband and wife duo of Steven and Lauren Olana in the Verve Racing 1985 Toyota Tercel will be competing this weekend, and Lauren attributes rally to strengthening their relationship together.
“Steven’s the reason I got involved in rally,” Lauren explained, “when we met in 2017 he was just getting started crewing and driving for the Honda R&D team.”
“Naturally, I tagged along to a few of the races out of curiosity and was really amazed by how a weekend of racing comes together. The logistics, the teamwork, the passion — it all melds together to make a rally weekend happen.”
“When Steven decided to build the Tercel in 2020 the question of who was going to co-drive came up and I thought well I don’t want to be left behind I’ll give it a try!”
“I thought it would test our partnership—but really it reinforced it. How we work together in and outside of the car has only gotten stronger through the rallies we’ve raced.”
Despains Seek Three-peat
The Black Hole Rally Team returns to their debut rally once again this weekend, this time four years stronger, and two event wins more to their name. The father and son team will be fighting for the overall win as well as the NA4WD win in their Impreza 2.5 RS.
The closest competition for the Despain car is expected to come from the tightly matched L4WD field which will be on the road behind them.
The 2012 WRX of Camerion Gholson and Jeremy Agostino, the 2003 WRX of Chris and Lori O’Driscoll, and the 2013 WRX STI of Tim Wickberg and Matthew Trott will all be nipping at the Despain’s heels as they fly through the stages, with Robert Shibao and Dillon McKenna’s 2002 WRX thrown in as the final L4WD entrant battling for the class podium.
The rest of the NA4WD field includes Albert Goad and Lauren Bench’s 200 Impreza 2.5i, Evan Yonkers and Nicolas Leas’ 2000 Subaru Impreza L, and the 2005 Impreza of Eliza Coleman and Alex Gelsomino.
Last year’s runners-up Steve Bis and Kelly Keefe will also be fighting for the top spot in their O4WD 2016 VW Golf R, but they’ll have to top the 1997 Impreza of Sean Dorrough and Andrea Laura who took the top spot in the class last time out at the 2024 Oregon Trail Rally.
Also in the O4WD class, Ryan Bouffioux and Steven Winnat will be making their first return to the stages since 2021 in their 2002 Impreza WRX, Arto Yilkangas will be racing his 2002 WRX, this time with James Veatch III alongside him, and Jacob Sturgeon and Maribel Plaza will pilot their fan-favorite “Devastator” Subaru Impreza.
The O2WD battle is expected to be tight between Bret Hunter and Matt Holl’s 1988 Honda CRX, Andrew and Eric Mozer’s 1988 Ford Mustang, and Steven and Lauren Olana’s 1985 Tercel, but the 1994 Honda Civic of Tony Chavez and Sterling Smith will also be playing their hand trying to fight for the podium.
Finally in L2WD field, Chris and Michelle Miller will be racing as the only RWD entrants, as their competition consists of the 2010 Honda Fit of Radek Wlodarczyk and Cindi Carlson, the 2014 Fiesta of Cameron Gransee and Jacob Hickman, and the 1995 Honda Civic of James Besing and Riley Trout.
To keep up with Rally Colorado 2024, follow the American Rally Association on Facebook and Instagram, as well as the official Rally Colorado Facebook and Instagram pages.
~Mason Runkle, for the ARA