The Backstory You Need to Know
The 2026 ARA National Championship started with a shock. At the season opener Sno*Drift Rally in Atlanta, Michigan Lia Block was leading the event when a post-event technical protest resulted in her exclusion from the results. Her appeal failed.
For Block, the daughter of the late rally legend Ken Block, it was a gut-punch start to what should have been a breakout season. Driving a Hyundai i20 N Rally2 and showing genuine pace at the front of the field, the exclusion stripped her of points she had clearly earned on road performance. The ARA community took notice and so did Block.
At Round 2 Rally in the 100 Acre Wood in Missouri Travis Pastrana put in one of the drives of the 2026 season, winning overall in his Subaru WRX ARA25L despite the disadvantage of opening the road on Day 1. The top four finishers were covered by just 23 seconds. It was brilliant, chaotic American rally racing at its finest.
But Lia Block is still very much in this championship. And in eight days, she gets another shot.
What Makes the Olympus Rally Different
The Olympus Rally has been a fixture of Pacific Northwest motorsport for decades. Held in Shelton, Washington, the event winds through the tight, technical logging roads of Mason County roads are hemmed in by the towering Douglas firs and western red cedars of the region's vast timber country.
This is not the wide-open, flat-out style of gravel that defined Missouri's 100 Acre Wood. Olympus roads are narrow, often rutted, and constantly changing in grip level. The surface can transition from hard-packed gravel to loose stone to damp, muddy corners within the same stage. Commitment matters here, but so does finesse drivers who overdrive on these roads pay for it quickly.
In 2026, the event has been expanded to a three-day format up from the traditional two days. More stages, more mileage, more attrition. That means car reliability becomes a factor alongside raw speed, and drivers who can manage pace intelligently across all three days will have a significant advantage over those who push too hard too early.
Who to Watch at Olympus
Lia Block The storyline of the 2026 season runs directly through Shelton. Block has the machinery (Hyundai i20 N Rally2), the talent (she was leading Sno*Drift before the exclusion), and the motivation of a driver who knows the championship owes her points. This is a make-or-break event for her title hopes, and she'll know it.
Travis Pastrana Coming off a brilliant Missouri win, Pastrana brings his Subaru WRX ARA25L to Pacific Northwest terrain he knows well. Pastrana's experience at Olympus runs deep; he'll be one of the benchmarks going into Day 1.
Tom Williams The former WRC driver in a Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 proved at 100 Acre Wood that he belongs at the front of the national field. Williams led for much of Missouri before Pastrana's final-loop charge caught him. Expect him to be a top-three contender in Washington as well.
The Bigger ARA Picture: Eight National Rounds, 13 States
The 2026 ARA National Championship spans eight events across 13 U.S. states, from Michigan's winter ice at Sno*Drift (February) all the way to the Lake Superior Performance Rally in Marquette, Michigan in October. Each event brings a radically different surface, climate, and challenge and the champion will need to be consistently fast across all of them.
One of the biggest talking points of the 2026 season is the replacement of the Oregon Trail Rally with a new Colorado event. Rally in Colorado brings fresh terrain and new audiences to the championship, and could significantly affect the points race given that teams will have limited stage reference data on the new event.
The full 2026 ARA season schedule:Why American Rally Racing Deserves More Attention
If you love cars and you've never watched an ARA event live, the Olympus Rally is one of the best places to start. The venues are accessible, the stages run close to spectator areas, and the field includes everything from national-level Rally2 machinery to privateer builds that would feel right at home in any garage.
And unlike circuit racing, rally gives you the visceral experience of watching full-speed competition on real public roads â the same roads that, a few weeks earlier, were just logging routes and country lanes. There's something uniquely American about that.
Whether you're tracking an Olympus stage from the spectator zones or watching results roll in from home, the 2026 ARA season is shaping up to be one to remember. With the championship still wide open and the sport's highest-profile names all competing in the same field, this is American rally racing's moment.