Racing Southwest

The 2011 Dustball Rally kicked off with an exciting start yesterday, July 27th, 2011!

The three day 2,000 scavenger hunt style rally is racing through back roads and interstates from El Paso, Texas to Las Vegas, Nevada.  The 2011 event has drawn over 30 teams with vehicles ranging from the local Albuquerque #77 Team, the Flying Squirrels in a Chevrolet Camaro, the #50 Team Hazmatt from Los Alamos, New Mexico in their Ford Mustang GT, to #33 Team Hall & Nass in the BMW 335i pictured in the header image of this article.

The Dustball is a “gimmick rally.”  The participating teams will not know the route other than the start and end destination, which will also include two mystery stops along the way.  Instead, each morning the teams are issued clues that will aid them on their way to their next destination.  The team that is able to solve the most questions on the worksheet at the end of the rally is the winner.  The Dustball 2000 is a rally, not a race! continue reading »

Did you know that New Mexico, Albuquerque specifically has our very own homegrown rally team?  RSW would like to introduce you to Victor Kuhns and the Desert Monkey Rally Team!

The Desert Monkey Rally team has been involved in professional rally sport since 2003. Competing in both PGT, Group N, and Open, the team has competed on some of the most amazing gravel the country has to offer.  On Sunday, June 26, 2011 the team will be traveling to Colorado to participate in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.  The PPIHC race is composed of a 12.42 mile long course with 156 turns that begins at 9,390 feet and finishes at the 14,110 foot summit of  Pikes Peak.  As the elevation increases, so does the punishment to the driver and the vehicle.  The thin air also robs engines of 30% of their power at the summit. Competitors and vehicles must be in top shape simply to finish…let alone win!  Currently, the record time is 10:01.41 and was set by Nobuhiro Tajima in 2007. continue reading »