Photography courtesy Wesley Hill
Nike had it right, according to rally newcomer Wesley Hill. Wesley competed in his first rally last fall, the Overmountain Rally in Eastern Tennessee. Before hitting his first stage, Wesley paced nervously back and forth. Now, he’s thankful he went for it.
“I’ve had an interest in motorsports for a long time,” says Wesley. “I grew up watching Formula 1 … WRC … NASCAR. About three years ago, I talked to my wife right after we got married. I was like, ‘You know what? I really want to get into the motorsports industry. I want to know what it’s like to actually race a car.’”
A year and a half ago, Wesley started working in the industry, serving as the PR man for Rally USA Tennessee and its effort to attract a WRC event to the U.S. That seemingly made Wesley yearn even more to get the behind the wheel of a race car. Wesley considered all options, from dirt ovals to rally. He settled on the latter.
[Is there a real chance that WRC returns to the U.S.?]
“The one that made the most sense–and I could afford–was rally,” Wesley says. “There are cheaper racing [options], but this is different–there’s not a lot of this going on–and the community is super tight. I got into one of the Facebook groups and said, ‘Hey, I want to do this. What is your advice? How do you do it?’ Six people started immediately messaging me.”
Photograph courtesy Wesley Hill.
Wesley found a car, a 2001 Ford Focus ZX3. Besides the cage and suspension, the car remains stock. The week leading into his first rally couldn’t have gone rougher.
His co-driver backed out and then his backup couldn’t make it. Wesley asked his friend Michael Brandon to take off from work to fill the seat–and he agreed. Michael’s only experience? Playing the WRC simulation game with Wesley.
“We got there early Thursday morning for recce,” recalls Wesley, “and he was watching videos on YouTube of how to do a time card. He had never seen one before.”
The Wednesday before the rally, Wesley’s hotel cancelled on him. So did the rental for their recce vehicle. Fortunately, Wesley found another recce vehicle. Now he had to coach Michael.
“Michael had never seen a route book,” Wesley says. “We went through it. It took us about 5 hours to get out of the service park for recce. We went out there and we had the Jemba notes, and simplified them a bit more and made them easier for him, and went for it.”
Then, Wesley didn’t pass initial tech because he was missing a required piece of roll bar padding. Fortunately, another team drove up that padding from 3 hours away so that Wesley could make the rally.
“Everybody told me your first rally is your worst rally,” Wesley says. “After that, it slowly becomes easier.”
Wesley was just hoping it got easier prior to hitting the first stage. Thoughts raced through Wesley’s head as he waited for his turn.
“It was nerve-wracking,” says Wesley. “It wasn’t nerve-wracking because I was nervous about crashing. I was nervous because at that point I was just over a year into buying a car, getting connected, volunteering, understanding what rally was. There was so much prep involved to get in a car and actually go that my emotions, energy and adrenaline were all going at once.”
Those rally veterans helping him all offered the same advice: “Go out there, have fun and just finish,” Wesley recalls.
Wesley and Michael completed all 12 of their stages. Another friend, Vincent Raciborski, helped with the mechanicals. They all had fun. Now, they want to do another one. Mission accomplished.
“I was amazed that I actually did it,” says Wesley. “Now I’m a driver, which is crazy to think about.”
Photograph courtesy Wesley Hill.
I know "just do it" sounds like such a cliche, but I've learned–at least from a few people who have "succeeded" in their fields–that getting started was the hardest part.
Once the momentum was there, it was easier to keep going.
If one wanted to "just do it" with a red Focus, the easy button might be in the link below. Not mine, no affiliation - the story just jogged my memory about seeing this car on Marketplace. Initially I wondered if it was the same car.
https://www.facebook.com/share/15WSDJjKfw/
Cool story and it inspires me to actually do something like "getting into the motorsports industry" which is something that I have always wanted to do. Maybe driving, but more like manufacturing and designing parts, etc. I hope he continues to drive and expand his presence in a very cool part of life like this.
All it takes is buckets of money, or a co-driver that has same. I live 2 hours from STPR and went annually for about a dozen years until the collapse of SCCA ProRally. I did a lot of homework on what it would take to do just that one event, and it was daunting for me, Joe Average Income. It's not impossible, but you really have to want it. Road racing was cheaper...and I gave that up after a few years of $1000 weekends.
In reply to ddavidv :
About 25 years ago, I was looking into it and, absent being able to borrow everything I'd need, it would have cost the equivalent of my annual income in order to make it out on stage one.
So I started doing track days instead 
A friend of mine keeps trying to convince me that we should go in together on a Spec Miata. And as much as I would very much like to just do it, I think the first "it" to do would be "rob a bank".
If and when I get to the point that I can justify spending a couple grand for a weekend of racing, the used rally car and a regional event is the way I'd go.
I love stage rally, but it's exhausting and expensive AB. Hillclimb is the happy medium. Actually...I'd love a dual event weekend with a Hillclimb on Saturday and rallysprint or even rallycross on Sunday.
I continue to think about the Spec Geo Metro rally class that never quite got going...
I watch the "Special Stage Rally Video" FB page, or YouTube channel on Saturdays. They broadcast live from various stage rallies in Britain. One of the popular starter classes is comprised of R50/53 MINIs with fairly straightforward prep, running on a short list of spec tires. Like any serious motorsport, it still takes money. I raced ITB in the early 2000s and figured I was using $1.25 of tire alone per lap. I built my SpecMiata in 2004 for less than $8000, but tires, fuel and entry fees add up. Last year I believe the entry fee at Waterford Hills was $375 for a weekend, for example.
Jesse Ransom said:I continue to think about the Spec Geo Metro rally class that never quite got going...
Sadly, the car is the cheapest part.
I'd want to rally something with a lot of spares available pretty much anywhere, so my mind had been going to something like a Cavalier, or nowadays a Cobalt. Simple design, beam axle, find parts anywhere, no hardship if you roll it and have to buy another shell to reroof the old one (cheaper than logbooking a new car)
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