2025 Rebelle Rally Field Update: DAY 1 Presented by Iridium
October 10, 2025 (Blair Junction, Nevada)
Day 1 of the 2025 Rebelle Rally Presented by Iridium spanned 133 miles (214 km) and was rated a 1 for difficulty on a scale between 1 and 5. Competitors can expect the challenge level to amp up gradually, culminating in back-to-back level 5 days at the end of the rally.
Rebelle Rally Founder and Director Emily Miller said the route showed off elements of what makes Nevada great for off-road driving. Teams skirted the south end of a large dry lake bed, then they climbed the Weepah Hills west of Tonopah. At the first green checkpoint, they started an on time enduro leading up to Paymaster Canyon before descending to Alkali Dry Lake Bed.
Continuing on, teams had the choice between the regular or X route, which descends into Monkey Face canyon. If they chose the regular route, the teams crossed Railroad Pass before rejoining the route just south of Silver Peak. These locations represent some of the famous, populated mining towns of the 1800s and early 1900s.
One such town on the route was Goldfield, once the largest and most influential town in the state now considered a “living ghost town.” This 1902-established gold camp quickly became the most influential, richest, and largest city in Nevada for a time, with a peak population of 20,000 people. Today this “living ghost town” of around 250 residents wows with several beautifully preserved, tour-able original buildings, a couple authentic Sagebrush Saloons, rockhounding opportunities, paranormal activity, oddball art, and far more.
Before they left the starting line, Team 172’s Peg Eaton brandished a crocheted cactus with a crochet hook sticking out of it.
“Our goal is to stick it today,” she said.
Day 1 Results and Challenges
Today, three-time 4×4 champions Nena Barlow and Teralin Petereit (Team 129) collected an impressive 98 percent of available points; no team scored less than 50 percent. Petereit and Barlow have teamed up to win and podium multiple times, and on the Rebelle Rally Live YouTube show they said they welcome the challenge of competition.
“Other teams getting closer and closer to us makes us better,” Barlow said. “It makes us work harder.”
At the end of the competition day, Rebelle Rally LIVE Presented by Toyota Co-Host Katy Talyancich asked each competitor to offer one word to describe their Day 1. Several described the day as “easy,” knowing more difficulty is to come.
Today’s course certainly wasn’t easy for every team, however. Team 155 (Liza Beres and Jenna Fribley) finished their day having achieved 93 percent of the total points available and earned a ranking of 11 in their 2022 Land Rover Defender 90. However, getting back to base camp wasn’t a smooth ride, as a nut on their suspension system dislodged, which required Fribley and Beres to stop every 600 meters to adjust the bolt to keep it in place. Their first stop after their final green checkpoint was the mechanic’s garage, where they were able to replace the nut easily and quickly.
Team 155 wasn’t the only team with mechanical difficulties. Rebelle Rally Chief Mechanic Nick Cimmarusti and his team received a call mid-day from Team 141, sisters Melissa Vander Wilt and Rochelle Bovee. Vander Wilt and Bovee’s “third teammate” is a 1991 Toyota Land Cruiser, the oldest vehicle in competition this year.
“The team was on course and started experiencing some drivability issues with their car slipping in higher gears,” Cimmarusti said. “They started experiencing some slippage in third gear and that developed into slippage in second gear and first gear. They called for mechanical assistance somewhere around noon and we sent mechanic Mike Shaffer out with a trailer to pick them up.”
Fortunately, Team 141 was located fairly close to a connector road leading to Highway 95. The Toyota was towed back to the garage at base camp, where the team diagnosed a transmission issue. Cimmarusti and Shaffer worked together to find a used transmission in Las Vegas and they purchased it on behalf of Vander Wilt and Bovee for $100. While the transmission was in transit, one of the other mechanics drove to a Napa Auto Parts in Tonopah to pick up all of the necessary fluids to make the switch.
“We’re pretty confident that we’ll be able to swap it in and have it rolling by morning,” Cimmarusti said.
While this marks its sixth straight year as a valued Rebelle Rally partner, Iridium’s technology has been at the heart of the rally since the very beginning. Every team carries Iridium-connected YB Tracking devices in their vehicles for checkpoint signaling, which sends live vehicle locations and scoring data from along the competition route straight to the rally’s automated leaderboard. Vital components of the rally like safety, scoring, communication, and real-time updates are all powered by Iridium, making this extreme outdoor endurance event possible.
Learn more about all of the ways Iridium connects the world through communication at iridium.com.
Ways to Follow the 2025 Rebelle Rally
Fans can follow the Rebelle Rally live through the Rebelle Rally LIVE Webcast Presented by Toyota, starting Friday, October 10th. Daily broadcasts will be available via rebellerally.com, YouTube, and Facebook, featuring morning competition day previews, scoring updates, and evening recap shows. For real-time updates, live tracking, scores, daily recaps, team bios, and more, visit the rally’s official website and connect with the community on social media @rebellerally on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
