Rachelle’s entry into off-road rallying began far from home—in the dunes of Morocco at the Gazelle Rally, where she competed three times from 2012- 2015. She discovered the event through her husband, Clay Croft (co-founder of XOVERLAND), after he connected with Emily Miller at an overland event in 2011. The Rebelle was an easy ‘yes’ for Rachelle when it was announced in 2016, as she was excited to get to compete closer to home and to support the new Rally. In 2016, while attending the Northwest Overland Rally, Taylor met Rachelle when she sat in on one of Rachelle’s navigation and Rebelle Rally classes. It was her first time holding a compass. Two weeks later, Taylor signed up for the Rebelle, and finished 2nd in her debut. Rachelle and Taylor teamed up for the first time in 2019, competing in the 4×4 and Bone Stock Class in a Lexus GX460 they affectionately named Stella. It was Rachelle’s comeback year after a three-year break from rallying—and a bit of a hail mary entry. They won their class, marking the first time a Lexus claimed the top spot and took home the bone stock award to boot. They competed again together in 2020 and took 2nd in the 4×4 class in the XOVERLAND built LX 570 (J201) vehicle. With a lot of life and business happening, the team decided to take a pause on rallying, knowing that they would return at some point. Now, five years later, Rachelle and Taylor are back for Rebelle Rally 2025, representing the Official Toyota Team, the only external Toyota team to date, and are ready to compete! Their team name, Start Somewhere, is the epitome of both Taylor and Rachelle’s journeys.
Toyota USA, Mobil 1.
Currently a business owner and CEO of the Overland Collective LLC which houses the brands XOVERLAND, Overland Journal, Expedition Portal, and XOVERLAND Ranch. I have many different day to day jobs and most of my time is spent leading our media company of 20+ employees, traveling, filming, and producing overland films around the world. I love it :)
Belgrade, MT
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”― Howard Thurman
I can make some great latte art :)
I competed in the very first year, and I had to come back for year 10! What a milestone year for the Rally. I'm excited to be surrounded by amazing women, and I know this challenge is so good for me. I love having an outlet to fully compete and this year is going to have no shortage of intense competition. I can't wait.
People who continue to show up and push themselves instead of settling for what's comfortable inspire me most. Also, Patty Upton competing this year is extremely inspirational to me after all she has accomplished. She is showing that age does not matter and is still willing to put herself out there to learn something new.
The Let Them Theory – Audio Book
The Greatest Showman – Movie
Harry Potter Audio books are the best on long drives 🙂
Two months overlanding through South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia.
2016, 2019, 2020
In it to win it and have fun doing it! It's been an intense five years, I don't need more pressure in my life, but we will fight hard to the death and have fun doing it!
I love hanging with my three boys and husband Clay, especially traveling with them, exploring the world. I love being outside, making coffee, skiing in the winter, singing, and dreaming up our next big ideas with Clay.
No background- just grew up in Montana and was always driving in the mountains with my Dad and family. My first offroad rally was in Morocco in 2012 and I fell more in love with driving and challenging myself over long periods of time and distances.
Overlanding through South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia for two months with my family, filming the entire adventure, and coming out the other side closer. It was amazing to watch our boys gain confidence and understanding of the world around them, and I am so proud that we did it as a family.
Those fun, two-track roads through Nevada with epic mountains. The driving is so fun and you have to stay sharp to be sure you are hitting the right roads.
Bouncing back after a mistake and a dune day. It's a tough mental game for me, as every year I have to look them in the eye and attack them. It's tough for me to not have a clear view of whats ahead of me, and driving dunes one at a time can be torture, especially when it's so easy to get off course.
The Rally continues to teach me what I am capable of in more ways than I thought possible. Each time, I am reminded of all I don't know, and the choice to push through the fear or discomfort of all of it leaves me a better person each time. I go back to daily life more confident and solid in who I am.
I am very proud of my first car. I saved up in high school and bought a 1989 Honda Civic, a manual. It took me all over Montana and on many adventures.
VP of Marketing at Rick's Custom Fencing & Decking. My parents started this company 45 years ago in their backyard, I started working for them straight out of college thinking it would be temporary to make some money and gain some experience. This is now my 15th year with the company, I have gone from sales, to Director of Marketing, to this year becoming VP of Marketing. I love my work and I work with a group of people that are more like family than coworkers.
Vancouver, WA
Eastern Oregon University
Trust the Path - Rachael Ridenour and Taylor Pawley In the 2018 Rebelle, Rachael and I spent a lot of time lost, but on those days, we trusted those mistakes were for a reason, and more often than not we learned something, we missed something that could have been worse, or we just plain got lucky, but we decided to just Trust the Path and it got her from last place in 2017 to 6th in 2018.
I got my first Hole in One in April at my home course in Vancouver.
Year 10 Baby! We wanted to come back to be a part of this historic year and celebrate this milestone with fellow Rebelles that feel more like family than friends. This is like coming home after being away for a few years, it was time and we're so excited to be back.
2016, 2018, 2019, 2020
Rachelle and I are back to have an incredible time! Life is so challenging, we both have super intense jobs that can be high stress and so demanding. We are focused on disconnecting and just playing in the dirt for 10 days with our best friends. We take this seriously and will be very competitive because we can't help but do that, but we also most importantly want to have a really great time!
Right now I am passionate about golf! I play at least once a week with my boyfriend, friends, or coworkers. I got my first hole in one back in April! I also love to sing, I used to perform in musical theatre, but I've taken time off from that lately. I am also passionate about travel and overlanding, I've driven the Pan American Highway from Oregon to Uruguay.
My background in motorsports is limited to my time in the Rebelle. I signed up for the first Rebelle in 2016, with no experience in rally or navigation, but I've been hooked ever since and hope to do more in the future.
My Dad and I have a side business where we make wine. I've produced 3 vintages so far, a Chardonnay, a Pinot, and a Rose, with 5 more coming in 2025. We don't sell any yet, we're building our brand and giving most to friends and family, but it should be on sale later this year. The winery is called Chandelier Vineyards.
I love Johnson Valley and the Mojave Desert. Those days when you are in open OHV and you are on historic terrain chasing challenging check points, those are my favorite. Those days are so strategic and require more than just driving the list of checkpoints, you have to manage your route and your time so closely, and that's when I think the game is the most fun!
I think the hardest is the mental and physical fatigue. I'm not a 5am person, I love a snooze button. The Rebelle pushes you to the edge of fatigue for 9 days straight and it's the only part I am dreading!
The rally opened me up to a skillset I never knew existed, and the craziest part is that I'm really good at this. I didn't know how cool it would feel to be able to read a map, or to triangulate my location to within 50 meters in the middle of a desert. And to find this incredible community of other women that love this and are willing to work hard and play hard at this shared passion is just truly amazing!
My ex-husband and I built out his Chevy Silverado in to an amazing overlanding rig with a Four Wheel Cmaper on the back and made that our home for 2 years while traveling the Pan-American Highway. I also just bought my childhood car from my mom, a 2001 Jeep Wrangler that I grew up driving to school.
