Rain doesn’t sound like it would be a dealbreaker for an SCCA® RallyCross®, but excessive rain – like that at the July 3-5, 2026, SCCA MIDiv RallyCross Divisional Challenge at Billy Bob’s Billings RallyX Farm in Oklahoma – added a real challenge. Add in ridiculous levels of wind, and you suddenly have an event that easily could have been cancelled. But this is RallyCross, and RallyCrossers don’t know how to quit.
Three inches of rain fell the week before the event and the site did not dry until Thursday, even with the help of 90 degree F heat and 20 mph winds. Still, 23 competitors showed up for a weekend of competition that began with the Friday night social. The party cases of adult beverages, soda, cheeseburgers, and chips were sponsored by Frank's Funeral Home, allowing RallyCrossers to walk the course with a drink in one hand and a burger in the other. A final course walk on Saturday morning allowed everyone to wrap their heads around one of the shortest courses on the calendar, projecting times under two minutes.
The Heat 1 shootout started with Jan Gerber and Steve Ducharme, both from Nebraska Region, battling in Stock All Wheel Drive with approximately a 0.2sec differential after the first runs. Victory went to Gerber, who credited his win to the fact that “the car had no brakes.”
Stock Front Wheel Drive was dominated by Michael Groeneveld who, after the first two Saturday courses, was in the running for the 2026 Cone King Award.
Randy and Susan Puls battled in the Stock Rear Wheel Drive Miami Heat Special (“to protect and swerve”). In the end, Randy sped away with the victory, but Susan was one of the few competitors running clean all weekend.
Two-time SCCA National Champion Jim Rolland, driving in Prepared Front Wheel Drive, was surprised by local Volvo C30 driver Bradley Kropp, who dominated the class after the first runs. By the end of the morning session, Kropp fell to second place by approximately 0.4sec. Both drivers were clean – meaning no cones (certainly not shiny) – on both courses, but Rolland drove the afternoon courses with his hair on fire to win by more than three seconds.
Zechariah Hooker dominated Modified Front Wheel Drive, cutting significant time between his first and last runs on each course.
Modified Rear Wheel Drive started with a father son team in a Pontiac Fiero. John Stein began his first run with a missed gate, and his son Mathew Stein took full advantage showing his driving skill – until he missed a gate during the afternoon runs. Michael Stock in a Toyota MR2 had a challenging first run, but then he ran a steady day, taking the win by more than seven seconds thanks to those gate penalties.
UTV Max pilot Rogerio Balbino was the single competitor for the class and began his runs conservatively, but became the hot-shoe driver as temperatures increased. He was a contender for the Cone King Award following his afternoon runs.
The Modified All Wheel Drive class was decided by a combination of attrition and clean driving. At the end, it was Michael Tritt taking the class crown.
Unfortunately, Saturday’s runs decided the weekend.
The Sunday course was set up and ready to go on Saturday night until 90 mph winds snapped power poles and cleared the course cones. Despite a weather forecast projecting a half inch of rain, 2.5 inches drowned the area overnight, washing out the course.
A vote was held, and it was decided to end the event based on Saturday’s results. But this being RallyCross, drivers opted to set up a fun-run course on the high ground of the facility for added giggles. After lunch and trophies, the team dispersed, but not before Tim Thompson took home the final prize, which was a drawing for a free entry to the 2026 SCCA RallyCross National Championship in October.
Not an ordinary event, for sure, but one that showed how RallyCrossers can (and will) roll with anything.
Photo by Timothy Thompson
