Seth Quintero has won the 2026 American Rally Association (ARA) National Championship, taking his first ARA title in Toyota’s inaugural American rally season. Driving a Toyota GR Corolla Rally RC2 for the Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team with co-driver James Morgan, Quintero finished second overall at the final round, the Lake Superior Performance Rally (LSPR) in Michigan, and was second on the Power Stage as well.
How the 2026 ARA title was decided.
The title capped a debut season of American stage rally competition that included three podium performances and two overall wins. Quintero won the championship by two points.
Lia Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino, in a Block House Racing Hyundai i20 N Rally2, finished third overall. Two corners from the end of the last stage, a double puncture cost Block critical Power Stage points and handed the championship to Quintero. At 20, Block still capped a breakthrough season, including her maiden overall victory at the Ojibwe Forests Rally in August, where she became the first woman to win an American national championship rally outright.
Lake Superior Performance Rally result.
Conner Martell and co-driver Ross Whittock won the rally in a Subaru WRX, substituting for the injured Travis Pastrana. Martell won all but one contested stage and set new stage records along the way.
“It’s been an absolutely amazing year,” said Quintero.
Quintero thanked his co-driver and the team. “Thank you to James and everyone at Toyota Gazoo Racing for trusting me in our first season of American rally. We gave it everything all year, and it came down to the very last stage. To everyone who has supported me along the way, this one is for you, and it’s only the beginning.”
The ARA title follows Quintero’s back-to-back FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) victories at Desafío Ruta 40 in Argentina and the Rally of Morocco, which put him at the top of the W2RC Drivers’ Championship standings. The W2RC season concludes at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge from November 22 to 27.
