Packwood National Tour & Pro Solo
July has come and gone, and we find ourselves at the tail end of the 2026 season already. With no regional events in July, it's easy to think autocross has stopped, but that couldn't be further from the truth. A brave few found their way back up to Packwood for the 2026 Packwood National Tour and Packwood Pro Solo. National events are worth attending for many different reasons. One, the level of competition rises. While we have so many fast drivers in our Oregon Region, even more show up to play at a National event. Two, some badass cars! Cars and classes we don't normally get to see are on display. And three, it's PACKWOOD!
Events start on Friday with a test and tune course along with an EVO School. Then we step into competition on Saturday morning. Three runs on Saturday, reverse the course, and three runs on Sunday to crown Tour winners. When the dust settled, 247 drivers took time on two great and challenging James Paulson courses.
National Tour
We start in AS, where Steven Savas was able to overcome day-one cone troubles to sneak into the fourth trophy spot. His time on Sunday was second fastest in class. George Wilder and Kurt Fletter round out the top 10 in ninth and 10th, respectively. In BS, Oregon Region claimed its first weekend victory on the strength of Scott Elam, who put down quick times in class on both days, taking the win by almost four seconds. Dominic Stone also fought cone troubles on day one, but rebounded to put down a quick third run on day two to climb his way into fourth, just outside the trophies.
In CS, our favorite course designer took his ND2 Miata and battled it out with a NWR racer all weekend. After James put down a flier on day one, his day-two time came up just short, missing out on the win by just .024 in one of the closest battles of the weekend. Nick Bender and former Oregon racer Sam Otis would claim the final two trophy spots in third and fourth. Jenifer Bodner would take home 10th after battling her own cone troubles on day two.
DS saw Doug Rhodes, Shawn Porter, and Justin Schneider all go at it in a stacked field of talent. All three missed out on trophies, coming home in eighth, ninth, and 15th. Doug put up the fourth-quickest time in class on day two, but like so many others, cone troubles and a safety run on day one kept him out. ES saw our lone Oregon Region racer fight it out with seven drivers from NWR. Carson Orud would come home third in that battle, missing out on second place by a scant .094. Three drivers took time in FS, with the beautiful red Mustang of Roy Hockett coming home in third.
GS would see a second win come to our region by way of Leif Johanson. His Elantra would prove too much for the rest of the class, taking the win by 1.1 seconds. Christian Bartolome, in one of the rear Minis still racing today, would come home in sixth. Solo Spec Coupe was a two-driver fist fight between car owner Brian Duncan and one of the best beards in the PNW, Brian Seeley. In the battle of Brians, it was the car owner taking the win. After both drivers hit a combined 13 cones for the weekend, only three clean runs between the two were found. SST had only one driver take time, and that was Marvin Wodtli from the Oregon Region, who put down a combined time of 101.650.
AST: it would be our fearless leader, Josh Ryan, putting his ND2 on the top step, taking the win by just over .500. Joel Bristol would find time on day two, but came up just short of the trophies by .045, finishing in fourth. Cass Chan would round out the seven-car field.
The blood bath that is CST would see 15 drivers take time. Garrett Cogburn would put down two fast days to come home in second. His time was quick enough to place him third in overall PAX for the event. Oregon Region would go on to claim two more trophy spots, with Thomas Fahey running in fourth and Tyler Seeley showing the little NB is still quick, taking the fifth and final trophy spot. Jason Lentz would finish in eighth, Rob Palmer in 10th, and Griffin Palmer, shaking off the rust, would take 15th.
In DST, it was a flier of a time on day one, giving Alex Paraskevas the early lead, one he would not let go of, taking the win by just over .700. Carl Tanner fought back after a rough day one to finish one spot out from the trophies in fifth. Jose Chorro came home in eighth, and Chris Humphrey in 10th in a 12-car field.
EST is always a tough class, and this Tour would prove no different. Oregon's own Lowey Malkovich would work his way into ninth, edging out fellow Oregon racer Ian Haas in 10th. Jumping to GST, George Emery would pilot “Pepper” to a second trophy spot, with co-driver Sean Funk coming home in fourth. In DP, it was the gentleman Jim Daniels besting his lovely wife Tami to take both trophies. Bob Croucher would run times fast enough to take fourth.
CAMS was an all-GM battle, with Dan Bullis claiming the top spot by just over three seconds. Carl Ag would just miss out on a trophy, coming home in third. In CAMC, former Oregon racer Ryan Otis returned to show why we miss him so much. He would take the SSB-design Mustang to the top step, beating out car owner Dallas Cutler by 1.3 seconds. Steve Wynne was on the outside of the trophies in third. And in CAMT, Ron Aasted, in his always spotless Mustang, would come up just short of the win, taking second-place honors back home to Springfield. In a father-son battle, Chris Pokorny and his son Oliver would battle it out, taking the fourth and fifth spots, with Oliver putting down a quicker day-two time! David Stewart would push his awesome '64 Skylark to a sixth-place finish.
In XA, 11 drivers found times, allowing the Bull, Brian Ferdinand, to barely miss out on a trophy, finishing in fifth, while Jesse Skiles would take 11th. The largest class of the weekend was XB, where 25 drivers would battle things out. When the dust settled, Nick Ferguson would need to put in two safety runs to come home in the 20th spot. EVX, or the Tesla class, would see a frustrated Dan Hall take the fourth spot in a tough field of experienced drivers.
Moving on to the ladies classes, four Oregon Region racers took time in L2. Danielle Paulson would be the best of them, coming home in the fifth and final trophy position. Heather Howe, yelling the whole time, in seventh; Brandy Rizzo in 11th; and Abby Paulson in 13th.
In Ladies Street Touring, Chelsea McConnell showed great speed, coming home in fourth and taking the final trophy spot. Former Oregon racer Lacey Otis came home in sixth, just beating out A'ngelique Ortega in seventh.
ProSolo
The Pro Solo would find two more James Paulson courses challenging all who dare take them on. A smaller field of racers, but with some different faces showing up to do battle. Two mirrored courses, with a drag-race start off a tree and multiple looks at each side. Four runs on Saturday morning, four runs on Saturday afternoon, and then four last looks on Sunday morning to crown class winners.
We find our first racers in BS, where Sean Funk and George Emery would trade in the FWD Ford Focus for Sean's RWD Corvette. Sean would find time on both his last runs of the weekend to take the win by just over 0.600. Dom Stone would just miss out on a trophy, taking third, while George would roast the rear tires all the way to fourth. CS: it was Paulson getting the win, but not before the young upstart Otis pushed him to the limits. James came out the victor by .757.
CST: it was redemption time as Garrett Cogburn would battle to the last run, taking victory by just .045 over a stacked field of 14 drivers. Rafael Perez would drive the same S200 to a ninth-place finish, with Jason Lentz taking 10th. Haozhen Xu would bring home the 14th-place finish. DST: it was yet another win for Alex, but this time it was Carl Tanner showing the speed we knew he had, taking the second spot. Wyatt Cox would round out the three-car field.
In S1, Kurt Rhem would push his '23 GT4RS for all it's worth to take seventh. In S3, Dan Bullis traded in his C6 Corvette for a more nimble NC Miata. He would cone away his quick left-side time, only finding one clean run, good enough for the third and final trophy spot in class. Jake Hartough and Bob Thomas would find car trouble after their first runs and only manage sixth and seventh after having to call it early. S4 would be next, and Dan Hall would not be able to find more time on the right after Saturday morning. He would take sixth, while Scott Elam would come up a bit short in eighth.
In L3, it was a HUGE win for Chelsea McConnell, taking her first National event win by only .086. She would save the best for last, finding time on both sides on her final runs. Danielle Paulson would do the same; she would finish just outside the trophies in sixth. Natalie Ortiz would try her first Pro Solo, finishing with all smiles and a 10th place. Lacey Otis would once again battle with the Mustang, coming home just .027 behind Nat in 11th.
CAM: Ryan Otis would continue his winning ways, with a .289 win over two fast drivers in Dan's Corvette.
At the end of comp runs, there are three challenge brackets that take place: the Bonus Challenge, the Ladies Challenge, and the Super Challenge. While Oregon racers would not compete in the first two, there would be some in the Super. The Super Challenge would be a battle of some of the best drivers in the country. After two knockout stages, both Garrett and Alex would find themselves in the final eight-car ladder. Garrett would come up just short to Daniel McCelvey in round one. Alex was on the other side of the ladder, where he would face back-to-back NA Miatas, beating both. That got him to the final, where he would face McCelvey. Alex would come up just short, but found his best Pro Super Challenge event finish ever with runner-up.
After two crazy weekends, all went quiet again. Many laughs were had, many battles fought, and so many memories made. Thanks to all who came out and represented our region so well. We now face our final Packwood weekend of the year, Aug. 15th and 16th. Dan Bullis will be event chair for both, and the Oregon Potluck will be taking place onsite Saturday evening. We look forward to seeing you all there. Be safe, have fun, and go fast!!