Francisco “Tony” Chavez was born in Arequipa, Peru, on November 27, 1957. When the Caminos del Incas Rally started in 1966 one of the stops was Arequipa. Young kids, like Tony, could watch the famous Peruvian rally driver Henry Bradley come sliding into town in his Volvo Amazon in that first year. Those events imprinted something on Tony’s brain that never would go away.

In September of 1975, Chavez got his hands on a VW Beetle and entered an open road race. At the finish he took third place in class. Full of confidence going into the next race in 1976, Tony crashed breaking his femur and some ribs

Racing went on the backburner while Tony headed for the United States, where opportunities were plentiful. Upon arrival Tony bounced between jobs but were not fulfilling. One day Tony saw a billboard for the Navy. He drove to a recruiting station and two days later he shipped out to basic training.
In his eight years with the Navy, Tony served with distinction on the USS St Louis under Captain David R (Snake) Morris. Upon leaving the service he obtained his real estate license and did well until the big downturn in 1990. After that he worked with a food distribution company. All the while looking to be able to restart racing.

On January 10, 1991, Tony broke away and opened Condor Enterprises, which offers packaging services. Still does to this day. The door was opening to start racing again.
Tony was able to purchase a stock class Datsun 510 from California Rally Series (CRS) hot shoe, Anton Musev. Rally seemed the best way to capitalize on his experience in Peru. However, the fine details of how a proper stage rally works eluded Tony and his navigator Jose Astoria headed into his first event, the 1992 Rim of the World Rally in Lancaster, California, as the Condor Rally Team.
In Peru, like in off-road racing here, the green flag flies and you are on the clock immediately until you are done with the race. Rally is a combination of transit and stage sections linked together to form the event. In stages you are flat out until the finish control. In transits you are driving at the legal speed limit and off the clock. Tony and Jose were never off the clock in their minds. They amassed a record amount of penalties that is still talked about today.

The Sports Car Club of America educated Tony about the way a stage rally works. As he continued racing in the Southwest, Tony felt hampered by the stock class restrictions to horsepower. Plans were made to build an open class Datsun 510 for 1993.

1994 was a breakout year for the Condor Rally Team after some changes to his 1993 effort. First, Tony lured experienced rally navigator John Elkin to his right seat. The engine was changed from an L16 to an L20B for an increase in power to suit Tony’s emerging driving style.

At the season opener Rim of the World Rally the event started well with a solid second place in seed 3 and 12th overall. The next day the Datsun had a fuel pump failure. Things came together at the Prescott Forest Rally with an 8th overall in the National group and a third in Group 2. Next at the Treeline Rally the team got their first top ten in a divisional rally and second in class. Gorman was next with another top ten overall and second in class.

The Datsun’s had served Condor Rally Team well, but Tony wanted to go faster. Several vehicles came and went starting with a two-wheel-drive Mitsubishi Eclipse which usually broke before the finish. That car was sold, and a Volkswagen Golf Reynard chassis came to Condor.

The VW was a good car that netted some good finishes, but the speed was not there. It was time to go four-wheel-drive. A Mitsubishi Galant was obtained with sponsorship from Texaco. On November 15, 1998, at the Treeline Rally, Tony Chavez and John Elkin gained entry into the overall rally winners club with a dominating win.

What was missing now were championships. The first came in 2000 with the Galant in the 4WD class. Tony wanted a National Championship, but the Galant could not compete with factory efforts. Production class was the choice, and a VW Golf was purchased. That car brought Tony and co-driver Doug Robinson a title in 2001. A succession of Golf’s brought Tony the CRS Performance Stock title in 2001, 2014 and 2017. In 2024 Tony and Sterling Smith won the CRS-2 championship in a Honda Civic.
Driving fast and winning is one aspect of rallying. Giving back to the sport and being recognized for your accomplishments not behind the wheel is another. Tony Chavez has been recognized many times for his support of the sport:

1992 – Galal Souki Memorial Award for support and sportsmanship of the Stock Class
2005 – Bill Moore Memorial Award for being an outstanding Director of the CRS
2007 – Kenneth Zimmerman Memorial Award for Outstanding Support of the CRS

Tony has been the Director of the CRS for six years, and an event organizer of the Glen Helen Rallysprint, Treeline Rally and Gorman Ridge Rally.
And he is not done yet!