☰

ARA Olympus Rally 2026

A long and brutal 3 days of racing - but bringing home 2nd in my home race was more than worth it in the end. So much carnage up and down the field but we kept it clean after a decent first day - minus a small adventure in power steering loss for a few stages! Thanks to Glen Ray for co-driving this event, to River City Rally for building a tank of a car - and finally to the sponsors and friends who came along for the ride: 425 Motorsports, Fuji Select, and FoxCove IT Services!

A white Lexus IS250 rally car can be seen racing through a carved out logging road. Spectators and media line the edges; many are taking photos and some are cheering. Tall thin trees line the backdrop.
Shelton, Washington, USA
Apr 27, 2026

Dust Trails

Snaking our way around a spectator zone, and resisting the urge to show off a bit. Thanks to MeLe Media for the shot!

#ara #lexus #motorsports #olympus #olympus-2026 #rally #racing #usa #washington
A photo of me with my crew chief, Josh Simer.
Shelton, Washington, USA
Apr 27, 2026

Good Racing Requires Good Crew

A podium result might only give trophies for the driver and co-driver, but it's not just our race: it's the crew's race as well, and it's important to recognize their contributions. 3 long days of racing would have been impossible without their efforts - and Josh here is the Crew Chief for our car. Despite my best efforts to cause problems, he always manages to get us out of service with a solid car ready to tackle stages again. A massive thank you to him - and to everyone over at River City Rally for their work throughout Olympus. Could not have done it without them!

#olympus #olympus-2026 #personal #rally #self
Podiums of Olympus Rally 2026. We secured 2nd place!
Shelton, Washington, USA
Apr 27, 2026

2nd at Olympus Rally 2026

One hell of an event. Almost 200 miles of racing over three days - and that's not even counting the recce! Being that this is my (current) home race, I found myself wanting to win - or at least podium - more than most other races I've been in. Securing 2nd had me smiling like I don't think I've done in awhile. Congratulations to Mark Tabor and Kathryn Hansen on 1st place, they drove a flawless race as far as I can tell and their experience on these roads shows! Congrats to the Kravets brothers on 3rd, they're seriously speeding up! A big thanks to Glen Ray for co-driving for me this event; his prior experience in running and winning the L2WD championship in 2025 shows and was an undeniable factor in managing the 3 day slog. Big shoutouts to the crew at River City Rally for building a tank of a car, and for the insane efforts they put in all week long to keep us racing with a capable car. Finally, thanks to the sponsors and friends who came along for the ride: 425 Motorsports, Fuji Select, and FoxCove IT Services! Thanks to MeLe Media for the shot!

#ara #lexus #motorsports #olympus #olympus-2026 #rally #racing #usa #washington
A white Lexus IS250 drifting around a turn. A massive dust cloud can be seen behind it. Yellow banner tape is cordoning off a safe racing space.
Shelton, Washington, USA
Apr 27, 2026

Olympus Rally 2026, Day 3

We had managed to secure a comfortable gap in 2nd place from anyone behind us, and Olympus is notorious on the DNF ("did-not-finish") factor - so we opted to bring it home rather than push anything crazy. Incredibly fun stages! Thanks to MeLe Media for the shot!

#ara #lexus #motorsports #olympus #olympus-2026 #rally #racing #usa #washington
A white Lexus IS250 rally car racing through the woods.
Shelton, Washington, USA
Apr 27, 2026

Olympus Rally 2026, Day 2 Start

Shoutouts to friends and sponsors - 425 Motorsports out of Redmond WA, Fuji Select from over in Tokyo, and FoxCove IT Consulting from down in Portland! Thanks to MeLe Media for the shot!

#ara #lexus #motorsports #olympus #olympus-2026 #rally #racing #usa #washington
A white Lexus IS250 racing through the woods at night. The lights on the front of the car are intensely bright.
Shelton, Washington, USA
Apr 27, 2026

Olympus Rally 2026, Day 1

Started off with the bulk of our first day racing at night - with a rather long 18 mile stage! An amazing stage to boot: every few miles it felt like it morphed in to something entirely new that necessitated a different approach. Tons of downhill flow too. Would love to drive again. Thanks to MeLe Media for the shot!

#ara #lexus #motorsports #olympus #olympus-2026 #rally #racing #usa #washington