Rebelle Rally - Team Dirty Tires

03/20/2025

10/18/2024

Look at these awesome behind the scenes photos of Fonda and her media team driving through the dunes this week. DRTYTRZ looks like a little toy car!

10/16/2024

Caught some rare sightings of Fonda driving for the media teams on the Live Show last night. Here she is coming back into camp just a bit being the competitors after a long day. Plus some fun pictures we’ve received from her throughout the rally so far.

Looks like she has been able to catch up with some friends too ❤️

Shoutout the the awesome Rebelle Rally maintenance crew for doing some late night work on DRTYTRZ 🛠️

11/02/2023

After a week of being home, I am finally feeling like I am feeling rested. I would like to thank Emily and her amazing crew. The amount of effort and kindness by the Rebelle Rally staff is beyond words. Macie and I had an unforgettable rally. We went in with the intention of making friendships, applying the knowledge we gained from last year, and having fun chasing checkpoints and seeing all the places California and Nevada has to offer. The rally did not disappoint! I believe we finished the rally strong and came away happy with our results. Over the next few days, we hope to post more incredible pictures. But here are a few from my camera. They show only a glimpse of what we saw. They show our home away from home, the landscape, the long days ending sometimes with Macie plotting in the tent after the sun went gone down and the finish line happiness we had when we knew we had completed such a grueling and fun filled adventure. Thank you all for following and supporting us on this journey!

10/24/2023

2023 Rebelle Rally

We did it!!!

10/21/2023

Wave the checkered flag, stand, and applaud, they have crossed the finish line! The 2023 Rebelle Rally concluded yesterday with a scorching 100+ day in the soft, shifting sand of the Imperial Dunes. The scoreboard and YB trackers show how difficult the day became for many of the teams, including the returning winners from 2021 and 2022, who were towed back to camp due to fuel issues. In fact, more than one team ran out of gas, and most had only fumes left, as the length of the course and the course conditions were as extreme as ever before.

Team 115 had a great dune day…in her interview Fonda said, “We had a great day today, helped some people out, got some points, that is what it is all about”. Fonda and Macie were all smiles as they crossed the finish line, with looks of relief and pride showing on their beautiful faces.

Today the teams will enjoy a celebration day with food, games, and a gala and then they will camp out for one final night before navigating to their final checkpoint ... home!

Macie and Fonda will take over their social media accounts moving forward. Thank you for following along and helping to cheer on our team, it has been a fun week watching the drama of the 2023 Rebelle Rally.

Will there be another race for Fonda or Macie in the future …. only time will tell.

Congrats Team 115!

10/20/2023

Day 6 wrapped up the marathon/camping stage with a rush to get as many checkpoints as possible in Johnson Valley before a 4-hour drive to Glamis, the big Dunes! After arriving at Glamis, the day was not done with 8 more targets to find. Fonda and Macie were one of very few teams to have the time to chase at least a few of these, with many teams simply heading into Base Camp 3. Solid performances on the Day 5/6 stages have moved Team 115 back into the top half of the 4x4 class!

Day 7 will be all about sand dune driving! This is Fonda’s least favorite type of driving and may be the biggest challenge for her to overcome on this rally. It will be an exciting day for sure and we are very happy that Team 115 has made it to the final day of the competition!

You might note in one of the pictures a network of green/yellow tubes around the car. These tubes allow for all 4 tires to have their pressures increased and decreased simultaneously. The tire pressure is one variable that the teams will adjust depending upon the terrain, ranging from 38psi for highway down to 8-10psi for dune driving.

Good luck today to all the teams, let’s go Team 115.

10/19/2023

Day 5 began with back-to-back enduros, moving the teams from Base Camp 2 into the Johnson Valley OHV area. Along the way they had to cross a massive dry lakebed, and you can see Fonda with compass in hand navigating the way. Day 5 was a first for the Rebelle Rally with a 2-day checkpoint challenge. The teams were given a fixed amount of time, over 2 days, to collect approximately 50 checkpoints. This is more than double a normal day. The teams had a hard stop time of 6:30pm last night, where they would camp in place, meaning that the teams would not all be in the same camp location. The difficult decisions yesterday would have been which checkpoints to get and which ones to leave for Day 6.

Today begins the 6th day of competition, and the teams will collect as many of the remaining checkpoints in Johnson Valley that they feel they have time for, but watch out, because they also must transition down to Glamis and collect a final set of checkpoints before their time deadline to arrive at Base Camp 3 expires. There will be some hard choices of points vs time trade-offs for sure.

We have a few Team 115 photos included with this post, and a few others that show the Johnson Valley terrain, as well as an example of the Blue checkpoint flag. This year we have been told that there are many decoy blue flags out there, so the teams really need to use the map and compass accurately or they can select the wrong flag.

Have fun out there Rebelles and let’s go Team 115!

10/18/2023

Day 5 Begins!

The Rebelles have completed 4 of the 7 competition days and are past the halfway point. All teams seem to be finding improvements in their skill sets; however, the course and the challenges are ever increasing. The 3rd team partners are also showing their miles as the mechanics bay had 18 cars lined up for some type of service assistance last night. The rally allows for a small window of self-service with guidance from the mechanic team members. If more time is needed, or work from the pros is required, a penalty can be assessed. I have no idea if Team 115 has ventured into this cave of wrenches and welders yet, but I’m hoping DrtyTrz has rallied on without the need for assistance.

Day 4 showed Team 115 making difficult choices between picking checkpoints and saving time. It appears that a wrong-turn in the on-time Enduro cost them a bit, but they made up for it with a solid performance elsewhere. All in all, they edged up a few more places, which they will not care one bit about. Their goal has always been, finish the rally, do well, get better, be great team-mates and enjoy the ride. I believe they deserve an A grade so far!

No pictures again for our team, so I’ve gathered more nature shots. I guess Macie and Fonda have been camera shy. The pictures are from the Spangler Hills OHV, the Red Mountains, and the very haunting Trona Pinnacles (which I’ve just added to my must visit list).

Day 5 and 6 are marathon stages. No base camp tonight, camping along with nature and the stars.

Good luck Rebelles and let’s go Team 115!

10/17/2023

Welcome to RR Day 4! A quick glance at the scoring card shows Team 115 creeping up a couple of places yesterday after a strong morning of driving and checkpoint finding. They had a long transition from the checkpoint routes down to Ridgecrest, where they were welcomed to Base Camp 2! I am sure the teams appreciated some hot food and the comfort of their second base camp.

If you have been following the you tube live series, you will have noticed Macie was interviewed last night! If you have not, check out the link below…the interview is at the 46-minute mark. It was great to see “proof of life” and more importantly smiles and humor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Snw59Fotybo

Last night’s media picture release did contain any of Team 115, so I’ve gathered some scenic shots for todays’ posting.

Today the teams will depart in 2 groups. One group will head off for check points while the other will do an on-time Enduro course. The checkpoints today can be done in any order, left up to the teams’ discretion. The groups will switch courses later in the day. A “special” twist today will involve 3 X check points, where the teams will have their maps taken away, be given a world topo map and be forced to create their own rulers. These are the last 3 checkpoints and time may not allow all to try this section. I know Fonda knows how to do this, so I hope they have the time to tackle this segment!

Good luck to all the Rebelle teams today.

Let’s go Team 115.

10/16/2023

Room for two on the struggle-bus? Sure, hop on board...oh, sorry…we have a flat!

Day 2 appears to have been quite the challenge for Team 115 as well as many others. The YB tracker showed almost as many routes taken as there were vehicles. The scoreboard shows what appear to be wide-miss penalties for most of the teams, Macie and Fonda included. These wide-miss penalties occur when you think you are at one of the virtual/invisible check points and you trigger your “im-here” device, but it turns out you are not within a fairly small radius. In these cases, your device will give you your current GPS coordinates, but this will cost you 10 points in the scoring. In Group A, 20 out of 26 teams incurred some type of scoring penalty!

The attached pictures show that DrtyTrz spare tire has finally gotten into the game! After 3 years of watching the race, it was time to come off its pedestal and join the rally. The media team took pictures of Fonda and Macie, on a mountain peak, changing the rather flat tire using the factory car jack…well done ladies! Yesterday was a time management game and it appears that our team had to make the tough decision to skip a few checkpoints to remain on time for the mandatory green time checks. If you arrive late to a green flag, you forfeit all remaining checkpoints. Whew…what a day!

I am sure Day 2 was a physical and mental challenge for Fonda and Macie, but that is what they signed up for! If it was easy, it would not be worth doing and the accomplishment would feel empty! As always the Rebelle Rally is living up to all expectations.

Let’s cheer them on again today and hope they find their groove and rally on!

Good luck Rebelles and go team 115!

10/15/2023

Welcome to Day 2 of the Rebelle Rally 2023. Team 115 had a great day yesterday, hitting most check points for full value! It was exciting to watch them as they were driving alongside some of the legends and top performing teams!

Day 2 take the teams from Base Camp 1, through the White Mountains and ends at the historic mining town of Gold Point, NV. This is a Marathon stage, which means they will be camping out tonight without the support of a base camp!

As always, we appreciate you for following along and hope you are enjoying the show.

Good luck to all those incredible Rebelles and LET'S GO TEAM 115!