Rally is back! After the COVID pandemic forced nearly a year hiatus on California Rally Series (CRS) stage rally, competitors return to Rangely Colorado this weekend. Featuring almost 140 stage miles, Rally Colorado is set to be the longest event of the CRS 2020-2021 Super-Season. The event will hold seven stages on Saturday June 5, and another seven on Sunday June 6.

Rally Colorado takes place on twisty and undulating stages in the mountains of the northwest corner of the state. As life returns to normal, so will spectators to the stages here, which are some of the most scenic in North America. New for 2021 is a Super Special Stage where racers will put on a show for the fans just outside the town center.

In Open Four-Wheel Drive Class, Scott Crouch is looking for redemption after not finishing this event last year. He retired after three stags in 2020, but had respectable pace on the first loop. Hopefully his Subaru will fare better this weekend. He faces class competition from Kenny Niernberg and co-driver Zach Pfeil, also peddling a Subaru on these technical roads.  

The CRS Open Lite class is where normally aspirated four-wheel drive cars are classified. While they may be at a disadvantage at these elevations without forced induction, Open Lite cars have held their own in the past, finishing on the podium or even first overall. This year Taig Miller will be pushing his Subaru to the limit to see how he can stack up.  

The large-displacement two-wheel drive CRS-5 class is not short on competition. Piloting a VR6-swapped VW Jetta, Andy Cowan has won this class championship in years past. This will be his first time on the stages here in Rangely, but he is known for being fast right out of the gate. Meanwhile Bret Hunter is no stranger to these roads, having competed here several times. He will be taking the fight to Cowan in a new (to him) Ford Fiesta ST. Also in the hunt for the class win is Peter Guagenti who will certainly put on a show for the spectators in his rear wheel drive BMW.

CRS-2, a class for small displacement two-wheel drive cars, has one of the largest fields this weekend. The favorite for the win is Julien Sebot who comes into the event with the class lead after taking maximum points at this event last year in his Ford Fiesta. Looking to keep him honest are Tim Wickberg and co-driver Mathew Trott in their Subaru BRZ, who also had a strong finish here last year. They will be chased by Scott McCarty and co-driver Steve Bis, is a similar Subaru BRZ. It’s been a few years since this pair competed together at Rally Colorado, but expect them to be fast in their local event. Two time class winners Erik Christiansen and co-driver Amy Floyd are also in the hunt with their VW Golf GTI, but are new to these tricky and un-forgiving stages. Finally, rounding out the competition in this class, piloting a Honda Fit, is Radoslaw Wlodarczyk.   

Alex Ramos and co-driver Andres Bautista took the top spot in the production-based two-wheel drive Performance Stock (P-Stock) class at this event last year. They will be hoping for a repeat performance in their Acura RSX on this year’s stages.

Rally Colorado takes place June 5-6 in the town of Rangely, CO. The rally features nearly 140 miles of stages in the mountains of northwest Colorado. For more information visit www.rallycolorado.org where you can download a spectator guide to see the action in person, or follow online with scores updated throughout the weekend.

The California Rally Series is the premier performance rally championship in the southwestern United States. The Series incorporates events from various sanctioning bodies in order to create a meaningful regional championship for its members. The Series celebrates more than 40 continuous years of performance rally, making it the longest running rally series in the United States. To learn more about the California Rally Series visit www.californiarallyseries.com and follow @californiarallyseries on Instagram and Facebook. 

Dear fellow rally enthusiast, 

The first CRS event of 2021, Rally Colorado, is just two weeks away, on June 5 & 6. The organizers have put together an amazing event with almost 140 miles of beautiful stages in the mountains of northwest Colorado. With 30 cars on the entry list so far, we anticipate plenty of thrilling competition in each of our CRS classes.

Hey, good news! It’s not too late to sign up to race! Come join the fray! Of course, if you can’t compete, the event could still use more volunteers, so please sign up to help out.

While the excitement builds for Rally Colorado, we also have some sad news. As you may have heard, Idaho Rally International will not run in 2021. Logistical challenges prevent the organizing team from putting on a high caliber event this summer. The CRS supports their efforts and we look forward to the event returning in 2022. We encourage anyone interested in becoming a part of their organizing team to reach out to the Idaho Rally Group. This is a volunteer-run sport and the only thing preventing us from having more events is people willing to step up as organizers.

If you were planning to compete in Idaho, we hope you’ll shuffle your plans and take your rally car to Colorado. It’ll give you plenty of great seat time prior to running our three remaining rallies of the season.

Following Rally Colorado will be the Gorman Ridge Rally just north of Los Angeles, then the return of the Prescott Rally and its scenic red rock stages, and finally our newest event on the calendar, Rally Nevada in Tonopah, NV.

As we emerge from over 14 months of battling a pandemic, the optimism about the upcoming rally season is palpable. There may be hiccups along the way, but thanks to you and the rest of the membership, the future of the CRS is strong. 

See you on the stages soon!

John Dillon
CRS Director