The roar of engines has faded from the Mark Twain National Forest, but the excitement lingers after a highly attended 100 Acre Wood Rally concluded this weekend. Subaru Motorsports icon Travis Pastrana took home the proverbial gold, claiming first overall in the national category alongside co-driver Rhianon Gelsomino. The win further cements Pastrana's lead in the American Rally Association (ARA) championship standings.
Following Pastrana in the national category was the duo of Patrick Gruszka and Florian Barral in second place. Rising star Lia Block, navigating with co-driver Alessandro Gelsomino, put on a strong performance to finish fourth overall. In the regional category, Ryan Rethy and co-driver James Dallman secured a first-place finish, placing 12th overall in the combined standings.
The rally, which served as the second round of the ARA National Championship, drew massive crowds this year. Both the Saturday morning parc expose in Salem on Fourth Street and the designated spectator viewing areas throughout the stages were packed with hundreds of fans eager to catch a glimpse of the high-speed terrain and blinding dust. The downtown area surrounding the courthouse buzzed with energy as fans packed in to catch a glimpse of the vehicles and a photo with their favorite drivers.
For those lining the backroads, the event was a sensory overload. Long before the heavily modified rally cars came into view, the roar of their engines echoed through the trees. Fans ringing cowbells and whooping from the sidelines watched as drivers tore past, flinging dust and gravel dozens of feet into the air. The excitement peaked in Crawford County with the highly anticipated return of the "Cattle Guard Jump" stage. The jump fully lived up to the hype, with rally cars catching massive hangtime to the sheer amusement of the roaring crowds.
Speaking before the race, eventual winner Travis Pastrana praised the unique and demanding conditions of the southern Missouri gravel. "This rally is one of the best in the championship, it's a lot of fun," Pastrana said. "Some flowing roads, a lot of jumps, definitely with some night stages. Definitely excited we got back the county that allows us to do the cattle guard jump."
We also spoke with Block, who highlighted the distinct features of the course before hitting the stages. "Just the fact that it's such a fast rally. We have such different roads here, and different surfaces. Overall, we keep coming back because it's so fun," she said. When asked about her progression as an up-and-coming driver, Block added, "Patience is key. Every small step is a win. Keep working at it, because it'll eventually come."
However, that high-speed fun across 13 special stages and nearly 130 miles came at a steep cost for many teams. By the time the dust had settled in the Ozarks, the brutal reality of the sport was on full display. Several vehicles returned from the woods sporting tweaked suspensions, missing protective parts, and numerous other battle scars from the unrelenting wilderness of the national forest. The official final results highlighted exactly how punishing the roads were, with numerous permanent retirements from the race, citing mechanical failures. In one of the most dramatic moments of the weekend, National competitor Arek Bialobrzeski and co-driver Aris Mantopoulos suffered a rollover on Stage 13, abruptly ending their race.
Despite the carnage on the course, the almost entirely volunteer-run event was a massive success for the community. Derrick Miley, one local course marshal, perfectly captured the event in a post-race reflection: "[The rally is] a different form of racing than I'm accustomed to. What an awesome experience. I never thought I'd watch cars race through the old backwoods gravel roads of the Mark Twain National Forest, but I have, and it's quite spectacular."
