The California Rally Series celebrated its 50th year at its annual awards banquet, held in Long Beach at The Grand event center on 17 Jan 2026. Attending competitors, organizers, and volunteers of both rally and rallycross were dressed to impress and enjoyed an elegant ambiance with delicious food.
Director Ryan Bakeman presided over the festivities which started with a video by Gerardo “Baby” Carvallo and Davis Cartney featuring highlights, challenges, and humorous team stories from the season. Paula Gibeault and Ray Hocker presented a “remember when” historical skit on what it was like rallying in the early days of CRS.
Veteran rallyists in the audience included: original Gorman rally organizer Gary English, original Rim of the World organizers Ray and Donna Hocker, multi-CRS championship winner Lon Peterson, and overall winner of Prescott 1995 Harris Done.
The presentation included special awards such as the Kenneth Zimmerman award, awarded to Jimmy Veatch, and Bill Moore award, which Riley Trout earned, and crowd favorites like Captain Crunch (Benji and Baby Carvallo) and the T-shirt contest (Rally Colorado). Rookies of the year were Jimmy Veatch and Jenna Cooper, while CRS recognized Ron Jarvis as Volunteer of the Year. Mike and Paula Gibeault were presented with special plaques and watches commemorating their fifty years of service to the CRS.
The evening concluded with a look forward, anticipating an action packed year of stellar events in both rally and rallycross for 2026.