Kyle: Sure. I live in Marquette, MI, and major in business management at Northern Michigan University. Outside rally, I'm into mountain biking, videography, karting, motocross, and ShamWow! This is my third year rallying…at one point I was the youngest driver in the oldest performance rally in North America, LSPR, which was known as the POR. I even have "P.O.R." tattooed on my shoulder, my reminder to always continue regardless the odds, to "Press On Regardless."
Blockwood: Girls love the Sarasin. How much action does being an action sports competitor get you?
Kyle: Really? Yes! Rally isn't exactly a babe magnet sport, but everyone knows what X Games is. So yeah, being in X Games does help quite a bit with the ladies.
Blockwood: Last year you were 3rd overall in the Rally America Championship and Rookie of the Year in 2007. This year we saw you at Sno Drift in an a front wheel drive Talon, which was admittedly not quite as blingin' as the yellow whip you raced last year? What gives?
Kyle: After X Games last year we were able to turn up the "good" knob and get three consecutive 2nd place finishes to end the season. Consistent high finishes put us in a fight for 2nd place in the Rally America championship vs. Ken Block going into the final race, LSPR. LSPR was an awesome race for me, battling with Ken and Travis throughout the race. Ken won the race overall, clinching 2nd place in the series, pushing me to 3rd. Getting 3rd in the championship was an awesome accomplishment for us in our first Open class season, following Rookie of the Year in 2007, as well as winning the inaugural Max Attack series. This season, unfortunately, our main sponsor was forced to pull funding from the team. I kind of had to take a little step down to the front wheel drive Talon just so I can get my rally fix, and it was still a lot of fun. Missing 100 Acre Wood was pretty painful for me, and hopefully I never have to endure that kind of torture ever again. I hope to be in something that throws a lot more gravel for the rest of the season.
Blockwood: Do you have anything in the works for X Games this year since you have the invitation?
Kyle: Coming off of last year's X Games quarterfinal competition, and realizing that we were actually around 3rd place overall in times, it's really frustrating trying to secure the sponsorship we'll need to compete in the upcoming events necessary to qualify for the X Games, especially considering we already have the conditional invitation. There are several options that we are working diligently on…spending full-time working on securing funding and promoting our team so that we can secure what could be an incredible opportunity. If we're able to seal the deal on any of a few awesome options we're negotiating, we'll be set to be podium-competitive through 2010 at least. We're hoping to be able to make an announcement soon, but as of today, we have no team and no car.
Blockwood: What happened midyear last year, suddenly you went from being fast to being really fast, getting on the podium and stuff. What did you do differently?
Kyle: 2008 was a breakout season. X Games was a top goal for us in 2008, and to get there we had to be smooth, consistent, and finish every race we could. We were fortunate to run a comfortable pace in my first ever open class race and still clinch a podium finish. After Sno*Drift we had a good start for points and really just had to finish 100 Acre Wood and the rest of the events leading up to X Games. Those consistent finishes locked in our X Games invitation despite crashing at Oregon Trail Rally, a mechanical DNF at STPR, and not competing at NEFR. After X we had nothing to lose.We wanted to focus on finding speed and really finding the limit of my driving. Rally Colorado was the first time I was ever told to go for a win, and I responded with a battle for the win with Travis, ultimately finishing 4 seconds behind. It taught me that I was able to push hard, ultimately as hard as any others, and still finish in second place, not extending myself beyond control and not taking undue risk. I felt like I was able to push to a level that was national championship caliber, and still have a little in reserve. It may have been the event that gave me the confidence that carried through the remainder of the season. LSPR was the event that, I think, proved to the fans that I had arrived. Setting two stage records on the oldest performance rally in North America is something for which I will forever be proud. Delaware, the fastest stage by far, was incredible…I remember doing this stage as a 7-year old, reading tulips for my father in car "0." Brockway, at stage record speeds, on gravel tires, was and still is a dream. "You following me camera guy?" During the entire stage I actually felt like I was ahead of the car, waiting for it to catch up to me&thinking the entire stage was slow motion. My dream is to make every stage I compete in the same; relaxed, determined and insanely fast.
Blockwood:You drive a little diff'rent than the other boys… In fact you and Ken could be the most different drivers out there, but you got pretty close to beating him at some races last year. Describe your style?
Photo: Ben Haulenbeek
Nose first at X Games 14—Kyle fuels the stok-o-meter.
Kyle: I've been told by a lot of people that I take a different line that's less sideways than a lot of the other drivers. Since I was 7 years old my father has told me that "boring is fast." It took me many years to discover what this really meant. I spent many days in solos and driving gravel roads getting all sideways and crazy. Always, in the back of my mind was, "boring is fast," trying to figure this out. Somewhere in my first year of Rally America competition, I finished a stage thinking, "dang, that was slow." My father, at the time my co-driver, disagreed and said it was actually incredibly smooth, error-free and resultantly, fast. It was. I've realized that I don't drive for the spectator sites, I don't drive for the photo-op; I'm driving to be the fastest driver in the event. For me, that means driving disciplined, clean and smooth. This driving style works for me, is easy on the equipment, keeps my crew happy, and at the end of the day hopefully helps to continue my quest to make rally a career, not a hobby.
Blockwood: What's the biggest challenge for rally is here in the US?
Kyle: US Rally has been growing immensely with the introduction of new "high impact" drivers such as Travis Pastrana, Ken Block, and Dave Mirra. X Games has been huge in helping promote the sport of rally and helping rally drivers make a name for themselves while securing sponsorship for full seasons. This big-time exposure is definitely really important for the sport right now. However, the sport still needs to cultivate new talent, to provide a venue for new drivers to gain experience and exposure. Having a US driver in the WRC in the next five years would be a huge step for US rally, and I hope I'm part of that, but I think it is important to adopt a more WRC-like format, most importantly two-pass recce. Due to the down economy rally will suffer like every other motorsport, but being the 2nd most popular motorsport on earth just behind F1, it will find a way to survive and continue to be the best sport on earth.
Blockwood: How about thanks to some folks?
Kyle: Of course. My family, V.I.O. Camera Systems, CPD Racing, and Graham Evans Motors.
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Contributors
Bill Lockwood
Having worked in snow and skate for years, Bill Lockwood will defend Rally as an "action sport" to the bitter end. He now spends his time blogging for ESPN and shooting Rally events while (literally) dodging the cars as they fly, skid or cartwheel past.
