With the end of the 2021 American Rally Association Presented by DirtFish National Championship in sight, and multiple winners already crowned, it’s time to start looking toward next year, and the ARA is excited to announce a nine-round championship for 2022.
The 2022 national championship will start off as it always does with a stop in Atlanta, Mich. for Sno*Drift Rally. The race will return as a two-day event for 2022, maintaining its later event date of February 18 and 19 that it switched to from January for the first time this year. The event is working on bringing back several popular features, including a spectator-friendly Super Special that was absent the past two years.
After the frigid start, teams will head to the ever-unpredictable Rally in the 100 Acre Wood. Being run on March 18-19 in and around Salem, Mo., this rally is known for being one of the fastest on the calendar, and one of the most well attended by drivers with 87 cars starting in 2021.
The championship then heads to its first West Coast event, the Olympus Rally in Shelton, Wash. on April 23-24. This event will show teams the biggest elevation changes yet, and if the past few years have been any indication, plenty of wet conditions.
About a month later on May 21-22, the second West Coast event will take place. Oregon Trail Rally will return to its normal spot in the calendar, after having to reschedule to November for this season due to COVID-19 concerns. Oregon Trail will be highlighted by the fan-friendly night of racing at Portland International Raceway.
Southern Ohio Forest Rally will serve as the mid-point for the 2022 ARA National Championship. The tight and technical roads staged will be run across three days this time, from June 9th through the 11th.
Moving up the calendar two weeks is New England Forest Rally, now on July 15-16. This year the round played host to the most high-end competition the US rally circuit has seen in years and is sure to continue to be one of the highlights of the calendar in 2022.
Looking towards the end of the championship, teams will travel to Detroit Lakes, Minn. for the Ojibwe Forests Rally, promising some of the most beautiful roads of any round of the entire championship. Historically, Ojibwe has been held on the final weekend in August, but the event will be moving up one week on the calendar with two days of racing August 19-20.
The penultimate round will be the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally. After running as an ARA Regional round this year and being cancelled due to the pandemic in 2020, fans and drivers alike will be eager to return to the forests surrounding Wellsboro, Penn., as well as the famed Waste Management Special Stages on September 16-17.
Matt Stryker/Subaru Motorsports USA
Finally, the championship will all come to an end after Lake Superior Performance Rally on October 14-15. The rally has played host to the final before, but due to other scheduling issues hasn’t been able to wrap-up the championship chase since 2019. It’s return to the calendar in 2021 showcased a mix of old and new, with the rally moving from the picturesque Houghton to the more-populated Marquette, Mich.
Along with the nine Super Regional events that are tied into the ARA National Championship, the ARA will sanction a minimum of eleven regional events in 2022. The Bristol Forest Rally will add a strong event to the ARA’s regional championships. Confirmed events for next season including: Headwaters and Nemadji (Minn. events), Rally Nevada, Missouri Ozark and the Show-Me Rally, Tour de Forest, Rich Olmstead Regional Rally (part of the Oregon Rally Group and are finalizing details for several other events. The ARA will release the final regional schedule in the coming weeks.
And with that, the 2022 championship will draw to a close, where will we be seeing you next year?
Provisional 2022 American Rally Association Presented by DirtFish National Championship schedule
February 18-19: Sno*Drift (Atlanta, Mich.)
March 18-19: Rally in the 100 Acre Wood (Salem/Potosi, Mo.)
April 23-24: Olympus Rally (Shelton, Wash.)
May 20-22: Oregon Trail Rally (Portland, Ore.)
June 9-11: Southern Ohio Forest Rally (Chillicothe, Ohio)
July 15-16: New England Forest Rally (Bethel, Maine)
August 19-20: Ojibwe Forests Rally (Detroit Lakes, Minn.)
September 16-17: STPR (Wellsboro, Penn.)
October 14-15: LSPR (Marquette, Mich.)
