Tier One Driver - Kala Rounds

Conquering the twisted, unforgiving tree lined gravel roads of the Oregon Trail Rally at speeds often above the posted Freeway speeds might seem extreme or downright insane, but Rally Racers like Kala Rounds do it every chance they can. Stage Rally always has some new tricks around the bend... and that's what makes Rally the most challenging form of Motorsports on the Planet. It is a race against the clock more that other competitors. A race against the odds. A mental game of riding the cutting edge of disaster while negotiating unknown roads. NOT for the faint of heart!

Kala Rounds began her racing career three years ago as a lone autocrosser in a Miata in a wet Oregon parking lot. In the years since, she's yearned to experience as many other kinds of motorsports as possible. Kala has jumped at every chance to try rallycross, performance rally, road rally, ice races, hillclimbs, track days, and drag racing.

Just three years ago, Paul Eklund of Primitive Racing took Kala under his wing and taught her what rally was all about. They started out running road rallies together. The pinnacle of her racing career came last February when she was honored to join Paul to compete on Subaru's factory team in the 10-day, 5000-mile Alcan Winter Rally. It was one of the most amazing experiences of her life; finishing as class champions in the Subaru Turbo Forester, miles ahead of the competition, just made it that much sweeter. Kala also spent lots of her free time in Paul's garage fetching beers and learning about Subarus. This led to a short stint as Primitive Racing's service crew cheif, her first introduction to performance rally.

Not long after, the invitation to co-drive came from Shadd Foster of Fling Pu racing in Olympia, Washington. This team is one of the Northwest's premier performance rally rotary Mazda teams, and the best at rallying on a shoestring budget. Shadd and Kala took 2nd place in Group 5 at their novice rally and continue to thrill rally fans in a gravel-spewing 1974 RX-3.

Once Kala started to feel comfy in the right-hand seat, she began offering her services as a co-driver and travelling to events across the country. One of the most thrilling driving experiences of her life came in May when she navigated at the Nevada Open Road Challenge for record-holder Chuck Shaffer. They completed the 90-mile road race in 27 minutes, averaging 195 mph with a top speed of 213 in a Chrysler LeBaron.

Today, Kala felt like it was time to fill the one empty hole in her short history in stage rally: driving.

Getting a taste was what the NW Rally Sprints was all about... 2 Days of competition and Kala drove off with a 2nd place win in Open class behind her mentor, Paul Eklund... driving Paul's Yellow Monster 2004 STi. She's pretty proud of her 3rd place in the "unofficial" long distance jump competition too, coming in at nearly 32 feet! Not bad for her 1st time in the car.

Kala's first Stage opportunity finally fell in her lap when Paul purchased a Subaru Impreza 2.5RS as a student car for the Primitive Performance Driving Rally Schools. The cage is in and the Primitive crew has been sweating to get the car prepaired for Wild West Rally this fall.