DodgeForum Interview: Nena Barlow, Rebelle Rally Power Wagon Competitor

Ram is sponsoring a Power Wagon in the 2017 Rebelle Rally. We talked with driver Nena Barlow about the event and her off-roading experiences.

The 2017 Rebelle Rally starts Thursday, October 12 in Lake Tahoe, California. It spans seven days and ends in Southern California after 1,200 miles of GPS-free, off-road maneuvering through dunes, trails, dirt roads and other terrain. Competing in her second year at the Rebelle Rally is Nena Barlow, owner of Barlow Adventures, and veteran off-road racer. She will be driving a stock 2017 Ram Power Wagon. We caught up with her before the rally to talk about off-roading with the Power Wagon, how it compares with other vehicles she has driven, and how in the heck she recently got the beast stuck.

DodgeForum: Before we get into the rally and the truck, let’s start with what is Barlow Adventures?

Nena Barlow: Barlow Adventures is all about the guest doing their own driving. Whether they’re renting a Jeep and exploring, or we’re providing them with technical 4×4 training with one our guides at someplace really cool, like Moab, or the back country of Arizona.

DF: How did you get started?

NB: I started working for other people in the tourism business where the guide drove and the guest rode in the back of the Jeep and you entertain them. This lead me to training commercial guides for the general public, which lead me into the Jeep rental business and my own business.

DF: As a female off-road driver and tour guide, were there any weird moments when guests discovered you would be driving them?

NB: One of the most interesting experiences was six or seven years ago when I went to an event in California. We often think of California as being more progressive. I showed up an event and they said, ‘Where is your husband?’ And I said, ‘He’s home with the kids…is that okay? In Arizona, I’m allowed to vote too.’

DF: What are you driving this year in the Rebelle Rally?

NB: Last year, I competed with a totally stock Ram Rebel, and this year I’m competing with a stock Ram Power Wagon.

DF: The Power Wagon is pretty impressive. We noticed, though, that you recently got it stuck. How does that happen with all your experience?

NB: Well, it started with a ‘Hang on, I’m going to try something….’ (laughter)

DF: Was there a beer can involved in this situation?

NB: No, no beer can was involved.

Actually, the funny thing was I was with another driver from last year’s Rebelle Rally who comes out and trains with me regularly. She’s really nervous in the dunes when you are running bowls, driving sideways, and really having to power through that stuff. I took a particularly tall soft dune to show her how it works, and walked through it with her. I believe my actual words to her were, ‘You’re not going to like this.’

Of course, it was really soft at the top and I got a little bit over the shoulder instead of sideways, where gravity allows you to turn down and power out of it. I was almost at the crest of the dune and I was kind of high-centered on top of the dune, on the softest part there. Then, I proceeded to bury myself trying to get out of it. She looked at me and said, ‘Which part am I not going to like? The digging?’

Yeah, you take risks. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t.

It was a great opportunity, really. We had other teams come over and we got to demonstrate how different recovery techniques work. Everybody thought I got stuck on purpose. I said, ’No, sometimes I get bonafide stuck.’ It was the first time I got the Power Wagon bonafide stuck. Most times I really got to work to get it buried.

I aired down my tires a little more after that. I was playing with the air pressure I know I’ll be running with the stock tires.

DF: Talking about air pressure and stock tires, what PSI are you thinking you’ll need to run to both get better traction, but also not worry about losing the tire off the rim?

NB: It’s different driving an 8,000-pound truck versus a 5,000-pound Jeep. The tire pressures you run on the street with a Jeep are about 35 PSI on a factory Wrangler, while they’re 65 PSI on a factory Power Wagon. Airing down a Power Wagon is going to be about 25-30 PSI for light off-roading. And in the dunes, I was playing with 25 in the front and 20 in the rear.

DF: Speaking of, what kind of challenges do you have transitioning from the Jeep to the Power Wagon in the dunes?

NB: When you’re cresting the dunes, it’s a lot of real estate to get over with the Power Wagon. Now, when you have those great big bowls, that’s a lot of fun when you have all the power with the truck. You can just get it on it and really go cruising in them. It’s when you get into the four to six foot dunes, particularly on the east side of Glamis, California…the difference is a lot.

Actually, I found the Ram Rebel was much harder for me to drive than the Jeep or Power Wagon. Playing around with the Rebel last year, I got stuck a lot. It’s a different animal. It has a very spiky power band and runs through all eight gears in that transmission. It’s a race truck. It just launches.

The Power Wagon is what you’d expect from a hauler. It has a very steady power band. People who drive compared [the Power Wagon] to my husband’s Rebel, and say the Rebel is way faster. Yeah, well, hook up a 10,000-pound trailer and the Power Wagon will still feel the same. Not so much with the Rebel.

The power band in the Power Wagon behaves like a big oversize Jeep with the shifting patterns and the way it reacts, especially with the front axle versus the independent front suspension of the Rebel. I’m much more at home with the Power Wagon, and I actually like it better in the dunes.

DF: What are your race expectations?

NB: The competition has gotten a lot tougher this year. The returning Rebelles are taking this a lot more seriously. Last year, it was all new and we didn’t know what to expect. Now, we do. Of course, the rally itself is attracting more serious competitors. It’s going to be a tough year. I’m excited about it. I’m going after the bone stock award and a podium finish. I’m excited for it and we’re going to work our butts off to get there.