100 Acre Wood Rally 2025 - Somehow we made it

The 100 Acre Wood Rally in Salem, Missouri is the favorite of many competitors. It has fast and technical stages, and a couple technical water crossings. This year, the stages were particularly rough, and the race this year would test the metal of many of the teams, not the least of which being our very own Flatirons Rally team of Scott Crouch (Driver) and Max Crouch (Co-Driver).

Durring Recce (the day before the Rally, Driver and Co-Drivers are able to drive the stages for the first time to make notes, and get a feel for the roads, etc.) Scott happened to stop and take a picture of this particular water crossing. They are deceptively dangerous, and the outcome of our Rally would be determined by one...

The race started out well. Scott and Max were making good time on stage, and the Boost'd Scoops of Briant and Matt kept the car running great through the first day. Scott and Max had managed to get up into 2nd in class in L4WD Regional class behind fellow Colorado Rally team Chris and Lori O'Driscoll by the end of day 2.

The Money Shift Rally Team of Camerion Gholson and Jeremy Agostino also were having a good first day on stage.

Money Shift Rally (left), Flatirons Rally Team (center), O'Driscoll Rally Team (right)

After the 4th stage on Day 2, the O'Driscoll's had a mechanical failure that took them out of the race, leaving Scott and Max first in class in Regional L4WD. Camerion and Jeremy were moving up on National L4WD as well. There were a few water crossings, which made for some spectacular pics, but both cars kept running without issue.

(photos from ARA Rally)

(photo by Nial Irwin)

Going into the final stage, Scott and Max were first in class, but this was where our Rally got a little more interesting. There was a final water crossing that was a bit more challenging because it was at night.

(photo by Nial Irwin)

The left front tire hit either a deep hole or ledge coming out of this crossing that would not only cause the tire to puncture, it would also break a number of parts on the car. Scott and Max would make it to the end of the stage, but to actually finish the rally, they would have to make it back to service for the final check-point which was about 23 miles away.

As difficult as the car was to drive, they even ran out of fuel and had to stop to put gas in the car along the way.

By the time they made it back, they were late, and had an issue at the entrance that resulted in a 10 Minute penalty.

This is how the car looked when they got to the end of the 100 Acre Wood Rally...

Because they were able to finish the Rally, they were able to hold 3rd place in class!

(photo from ARA Rally)

Camerion and Jeremy finished 2nd in National L4WD as well!

If you want to see a review of the full rally, check out Subaru's video below:

Now that we have the car back, we were able to asses the damage, and it was pretty significant. The wheel was cracked in multiple places, the brake caliper had a broken mount, and had basically fallen off. The Left Front control arm came off the car in 2 pieces, and the strut was blown as well.