Shift Up Now Athlete Madelyn Tabor and co-driver Sophia McKee earned a third-place podium finish in the National L4WD class, competing for Tabor Racing Team in the American Rally Association (ARA) Southern Ohio Forest Rally on June 11-13, 2026.
Driving the No. 209 Madelyn Tabor Racing / Matrix Motorsports Ford Fiesta Rally 3, Tabor is competing as a third-generation rally driver, and is the first Shift Up Now rally athlete. She is also supported by WIMNA and Steven Redd Racing.
Southern Ohio Forest Rally is based across Chillicothe, West Portsmouth and McArthur, Ohio, with Thursday’s Yoctangee Street Stage, Friday’s Shawnee Forest stages, and Saturday’s Zaleski Forest stages.
The race weekend began with the pre-event test and recce under warm summer conditions. During recce, the driver and co-driver complete the stages in a street car at about 30 mph to make notes about the road before competing on them at speed.
The test day on the flowing forest roads gave Tabor time to settle in with her Ford Fiesta Rally 3, which she nicknamed “Jellybean.”
The race began in the evening on Thursday and ran through the night into Friday. Tabor started 20th under the lights at the Yoctangee Street Stage in Chillicothe before the rally moved into Friday’s Shawnee Forest stages near West Portsmouth. Friday’s route included two passes each of Diagon Alley, Disco Inferno Short, Top Gun North Short and Pound The Alarm South.
During the first half of the rally, a deer appeared on stage. After jokingly saying, “Oh deer” in the car, Tabor stayed focused and calm while keeping rally pace.
The biggest moment of the day came on Friday’s final stage. Coming off a fast straight into a right three onto pavement, the brakes locked and Jellybean went straight into the bushes instead of neatly making the corner.
Tabor and McKee got the car gathered up quickly, returned to the road, and were immediately back at race speed with the brakes working as intended. There was no major service drama afterward, but the team still had a full re-prep ahead.
After the Friday night stages, the No. 209 car was provisionally in P10 overall and P5 in National L4WD after SS10. The crew worked into the early morning hours to get Jellybean ready to keep rolling the following day.
Saturday’s stages were a strong finish to the weekend. Tabor found more pace on the second loop as confidence continued building in her car. On the first pass of Irish Ridge, the team had some communication trouble that became a distraction in the car, but Tabor and McKee resolved it and kept moving forward.
Once again in true rally fashion, the day also included a turtle crossing the road.
After starting the weekend P20 on the road, Tabor and McKee brought home an unofficial total time of 2:08:51.9, finishing on the National L4WD podium.
“I’m really proud to bring home a National L4WD podium for Tabor Racing Team, Matrix Motorsports, Shift Up Now, WIMNA, and Steven Redd Racing,” said Tabor. “Huge thank you to Sophia, our crew, and everyone who kept Jellybean ready all weekend. This was a big learning rally for us, and finishing P3 in class feels like a strong step forward.”
Next up, Tabor heads to Rangely, Colorado for the ARA Rally Colorado for 121 competition miles in and around Rio Blanco County on July 18-19, 2026.
