Stacy Kasmarick Puts Land Rover to the Test
Story by Isaac Nielsen // Image Provided
When Jaguar Land Rover employee Stacy Kasmarick agreed to compete in the Rebelle Rally, she didn’t just sign up for any road race. The eight-day competition challenges off-road racers to trust a physical map over Google while putting their courage and navigation skills to the test. For Kasmarick, who had never done anything of the sort before, it was an opportunity she almost passed up.
Kasmarick’s journey to the Rebelle Rally, which is “the first women’s off-road navigation rally raid in the United States,” according to the event’s website, was one she was originally reluctant to take. It started with an idea from her coworker and friend, Stephanie Kowall.
“[Kowall] basically said, ‘why don’t you sponsor a team of employees that work here?’” Kasmarick recalled. “When she first asked me, I said absolutely not…because I don’t know how to camp.”
But Kowall, who “is definitely an off-road driver,” Kasmarick said, didn’t give up. After wearing down her friend, Kowall gave it one last shot.
“One day, she called me, and she’s like, ‘today’s the last day. I’m assuming I know your answer, but I’m just giving you a call.’ And I said, ‘yep, I’ll do it.’ I don’t know what came over me,” Kasmarick said.
Kasmarick agreed on one condition—that she wouldn’t be the driver of the two-person team. “I told her right off the bat, the only way I’ll do it is if I don’t have to drive,” Kasmarick said. “I’m a good city driver, but city driving is the only thing I do. And the thought of driving off-road on some of the cliffs and the terrain, I was like, ‘no way. I’m not gonna do it.’”
Luckily, Kowall, who admitted to getting carsick and struggling to read a map, was her perfect match. Kowall took the wheel while Kasmarick assumed the role of meticulous navigator.
While the duo had the driving aspect of the competition planned out, they soon learned that the Rebelle Rally had more challenges in store. Teams rely solely on maps and compasses to navigate the desert in Nevada and California, with electronics strictly prohibited. Kasmarick said she received her checkpoints by 5 a.m. each day and had to plot all the points of interest within an hour.
The challenges didn’t stop there. The 68 teams battled extreme weather and rugged terrain without much protection from the elements. “[We were] completely roughing it,” Kasmarick said. “We would wake up at, like, 4:30 in the morning…and there would be an inch of sand over everything in our little tent.”
Ironically, Kasmarick said her favorite moment of the event came when she and Kowall found themselves lost on a mountain with four other teams. “We all kind of met up in the same area because there was no direction to go,” Kasmarick recalled. “The direction we wanted to go in, there was no path whatsoever. I think the best part about it that made Stephanie and I work out together… We all grouped together, and after that, when we were driving, I was telling Stephanie, ‘see, teams do work better together.’”
For Kasmarick, the real prize wasn’t a medal or trophy, as that honor went to a team that had competed in all nine years of the rally. But with multiple teams dropping out, she felt plenty of pride. “I wasn’t as concerned with winning as [much as] the accomplishment of finishing it,” Kasmarick said.
She even said she came away with a closer friendship with her partner and driver—one that grew through the trials the two faced together. “Stephanie and I were good friends through work, but we were actually really lucky that we became better friends after, because there absolutely were some—I don’t want to call them breakups—but there was some tension with some teams,” Kasmarick said.
“I’ve driven three Defenders, and I have never put one through the terrain that we put it through,” Kasmarick said.
— STACY KASMARICK
Kasmarick and Kowall competed in a 2024 Land Rover Defender, a vehicle Kasmarick knows well from her work at Jaguar Land Rover. “I’ve driven three Defenders, and I have never put one through the terrain that we put it through,” Kasmarick said. The Defender surprised her with its capabilities, handling steep inclines, boulders, and even “33 inches of water with no problem whatsoever.”
The two named their car “Kendra,” a playful nod to their shared last-name initials. “There were some tough terrains where we were killing the car,” Kasmarick said. “We’re like, ‘come on, Kendra. Don’t let us down.’” “Kendra” held strong, never even popping a tire. “I never realized what these cars were capable of,” Kasmarick said.
While Kowall plans to compete again, Kasmarick is content with her one-and-done experience. “I said to myself, I’m too old to do this anymore. I’m glad I did it, and I’m glad I experienced it. But, no, Stephanie is looking for another partner. I told her that I would be more than happy to help train,” Kasmarick said.
For customers considering the Land Rover Defender, Kasmarick said it’s worth knowing its full potential. “I never knew its capabilities, even the functions and the screens of the different terrains,” Kasmarick said. “I had gone through the training class on it, but I said to myself, ‘when would I ever use this?’ And, of course, that is exactly the time I used it.
For more information, visit onyxautomotive.com/new-vehicles/land-rover.
