Los Angeles – On Saturday May 4th, the high desert outside of Ridgecrest, CA saw an array of prepped rally cars racing from the valley floor to the forest on Mount Piute as the High Desert Trails Performance Rally kicked off the 45th season of the California Rally Series.  With high speed blasts down wide hard-packed dirt to sandy washes to switchbacks climbing the side of a mountain to tarmac s-curves, this rally is known for offering the most diverse stages in the championship.  Once again the course did not disappoint and despite no lack of blind turns and harrowing exposures, not a single team had an off that ended their rally.

In the Open Four-Wheel Drive class, Jason Cochell and co-driver Robert Maselli won the class and the rally overall in their Subaru Impreza.  The team had a dominating performance, setting either the fastest or second fastest time on every stage. They had close competition from 2018 Rookie of the Year and Performance Stock champ Travis Fienhage, who moved up into Open class for this event.  He and co-driver Ryan Dunham jumped into an early lead in the rally despite Fienhage only having owned his Subaru for barely a week. Unfortunately, a broken driveshaft left them stranded on the side of the road on stage 6 and they were unable to continue.

Open Lite, a class for normally aspirated four-wheel drive cars, has been dominated over the last couple of years by Kurt Northrup and co-driver Will Smith.  The team had a rough start, with electrical gremlins in their Subaru Impreza causing them to leave Parc Expose late, resulting in a two minute penalty. Once they got that sorted out, it was smooth sailing all the way to the finish.  They extended their winning streak, which goes all the way back to the start of 2017. However, runner ups Michael Seidman and co-driver Tommy Luhrs showed impressive pace on the last few stages in their Subaru Impreza. If that continues they will be championship contenders this season.

In the large-displacement two-wheel drive CRS-5 class, Andrew Cowan scored maximum points against all odds in what turned out to be a remarkable display of the “press on regardless” spirit.  His VW Jetta VR6 experienced a broken transmission mount, a heat shield fire, and a water pump failure, but the crew could not be stopped. They removed the hood before the last two stages to let the engine “air cool.”  Despite the extreme engine temperatures, the strategy worked and they drove it across the finish line, finishing ahead of the Mustang of Jason Hamilton and Ralph Pond.

Volkswagens also performed well in the smaller-displacement two-wheel drive CRS-2 class.  Last year’s runners up Erik Christiansen and co-driver Amy Floyd edged out their rivals Eddie Fiorelli and Marie Boyd for the class win.  Both teams pushed their VW Golf GTIs to the limit with less than a minute separating them after over an hour of stage time.

The Performance Stock class has been a fixture of the California Rally Series for decades, and participation remains strong in the low-cost two-wheel drive class.  Ryan Orr and co-driver Joel Forty held on for the win in their Nissan Sentra, which was ironically previously owned by second place class finisher Chris Palermo. Palermo switched to rear-wheel drive for this season with a freshly built Toyota Tacoma.  He and co-driver Erica Sachs finished second out five participants in the class.

The High Desert Trails Rally was first run in 1973 on roads to the Southeast and West of Ridgecrest, CA.  This year’s event featured over 80 stage miles of smooth stages from the desert floor to mountain switchbacks.  Located just two and a half hours north of Los Angeles, the competitor friendly format makes this a perfect season opener for the California Rally Series.  For more information on the High Desert Trails Rally, visit http://highdeserttrails.com.

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.

Los Angeles – Saturday May 4 marks the start of the 2019 California Rally Series (CRS) Rally Championship with the High Desert Trails Performance Rally. Based out of Ridgecrest, CA, the event offers some of the most diverse stage roads in the championship. The competitors will tackle flat out top speed sections across a wide desert valley, hairpin switchbacks that climb to a high elevation forest, and everything in between (and a little tarmac thrown in for good measure). This year’s schedule features eight stages that combine for over 80 stage miles in a compact format that is competitor friendly, with reconnaissance available on Friday for teams that want to preview the course. A parc expose will take place at the Springhill Suites in Ridgecrest, CA on Friday at 6pm allowing fans to get up close and check out all the cars.

Last year Santiago Caballero was leading Open Four-Wheel Drive class, and the rally overall, when a busted tie-rod caused him to retire from the event. He is teamed up with co-driver Richard Dickson this event, and they will be looking to put their Subaru Impreza at the top of the leaderboard. However, there are two drivers that are moving up into Open Four-Wheel Drive class that will be putting up a fight. Last season’s Performance Stock champion Travis Fienhage has swapped his Dodge Neon for a Subaru Impreza and is teamed up with journeyman co-driver Ryan Dunham for his Open class debut. Expect them to set some fast times as he gets used to the increased power and traction. Also moving into Open class is Ernie Manansala, who competed in Open Lite the last two seasons. Sitting next to him will be veteran co-driver Alix Hakala, who has experience running at the top end at this rally.

Returning once again in the normally-aspirated four-wheel drive Open Lite class are two-time class champions Kurt Northrup and co-driver Will Smith in their Subaru Impreza. They will be focused on extending their class victory streak into 2019. Expect Michael Seidman and co-driver Tommy Luhrs, also competing in a Subaru Impreza, to keep them honest.

The large-displacement two-wheel drive CRS-5 class has a healthy field with a number of drivers who will be shooting for the class victory. High Desert Trails marks the return of Brian Tullio, who sat out last season in order to rebuild his Mazda MX-3 after he rolled it at the Prescott Rally in 2017. Tullio showed impressive speed with that car before the crash, so don’t be surprised to see him and veteran co-driver John Dillon fighting for the overall podium. However, Andrew Cowan is a proven fast driver in his VR6 powered VW Jetta. Expect him and co-driver Tim Brown to be trading stage times with Tullio/Dillon. Meanwhile last year’s CRS-5 champions Fred Hatch and co-driver Charles Grabow are looking to repeat their winning ways in 2019. Hatch/Grabow got faster with every stage here last year, beating all other two-wheel drive competitors on the final “power stage.”  

Last year Eddie Fiorelli took the overall win in his CRS-2 (small-displacement two-wheel drive) VW Golf GTI. He will have experienced co-driver Marie Boyd calling notes as he tries for a repeat. Battling him in the CRS-2 class will be Erik Christiansen and co-driver Amy Floyd, who were only seconds behind Fiorelli last year in their own VW Golf GTI. Joining the battle in CRS-2 Eliza Coleman and co-driver Andres Bautista in a Scion xD. Coleman has been consistently gaining speed with each event.

The production-based two-wheel drive Performance Stock (P-Stock) class is shaping up to be a tight race as well. Chris Palermo will be debuting a new vehicle (a Toyota Tacoma) and a new co-driver – Danny Downey. They will have competition from Jen Stonecipher, who was runner up in the 2018 P-Stock championship. She will be joined by her husband Terry Stonecipher in the right seat of their VW Golf GTI. Jonathan Compton and Daniel Keyes had a strong finish here last year, and will be looking to improve on that in their Ford Focus.

The High Desert Trails Rally was first run in 1973 on roads to the Southeast and West of Ridgecrest, CA. This year’s event features over 80 stage miles of smooth stages from the desert floor to mountain switchbacks. Located just two and a half hours north of Los Angeles, the competitor friendly format makes this a perfect season opener for the California Rally Series. For more information on the High Desert Trails Rally, visit http://highdeserttrails.com.

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.