ABOUT US
ON THE DIRT was created as a YouTube channel back in the first year that YouTube came into being, 2007. In those days, it was the personal YouTube account of John McCredie with a few little videos of some 4WD trips he had done with family and friends. John had always had a passion for gravel rallying and even won the Australian Rally Championship for pocket rockets in the front wheel drive 0-1300cc category. From there, this passion extended to four-wheel-driving and in 2009 John and his two sons Nathan and Jacob filmed their first 4WD Winch Comp.
The YouTube Channel soon started to grow in both popularity and size (number of videos) and was changed from the name OHM26 to ON THE DIRT. With more videos being produced and more 4wd and rally content being uploaded, the channel now has over 14,000 subscribers and almost 5 million views.
Roads of the Victorian High Country
The Victorian High Country has plenty to offer the adventurous types. Spectacular views, fantastic camping opportunities and for the 4WD enthusiast, some of the best and in many cases challenging roads in Australia. In the video below, we're going to show you some of the roads we used on a recent trip up into the Alps, and to start off the journey, we need to cross the mighty Murray River from NSW into Victoria. The [...]
Pedder Prevails in Thrilling Shamrock Haulage Rally of Bathurst
Photos: Roy Meuronen Photography The Shamrock Haulage Rally of Bathurst delivered a spectacular day of competition, with fast forest roads, changing conditions and intense battles across all categories highlighting one of the standout events on the NSW rally calendar. At the front of the field, Scott Pedder and Glenn Macneall claimed outright victory in their R2 Skoda, delivering a strong and consistent performance across the day to secure the win after a hard-fought battle with [...]
Silverado Strikes Gold – Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71
By Jon Thomson There is probably a reason why our cousins in the US call vehicles with a tray behind the cabin, trucks and not utes as we do. That is probably because, unlike our utes, their pickups are mighty big and are trucks in reality. While climbing aboard Chevy’s Silverado 1500 for the first time can be a little daunting for Aussies used to a dual cab one tonner or a Holden or Falcon ute, [...]
The Mav – Ford Maverick Winch Truck
Peter Bannister competes in a 1992 model Ford Maverick, affectionately call “The Mav”. He and Navigator Josh Flynn were last seen competing at round 1 of the 2016 COMEUP Xtreme Winch Challenge series, but due to a few issues on Friday night and Saturday, could only manage to finish 7th outright. The Mav has a Ford badge on it, but is essentially a Nissan Patrol after Ford rebadged the model for sale in Australia back [...]
Irish Rally Icon Frank Kelly to Join Lazer Rally of the Bay Field in Spectacular Australian Return
The 2025 Shamrock Haulage NSW Rally Championship just got a serious dose of international flavour, with Irish rally legend Frank Kelly confirming he will contest the Lazer Rally of the Bay on August 2, bringing his legendary 1977 Ford Escort Mk2 “Baby Blue” to the forests of Batemans Bay. This exciting development follows Kelly’s standout visit to Australian rallying at the Forest Rally in Western Australia, where he competed in Round Two of the EROAD [...]
4WD Winch Challenge Heats up in Cold Conditions
With overnight temperatures dropping into the negatives, about the only thing hot at the recent round of the Comeup Xtreme Winch Challenge (XWC) series was the winching action! 12 teams lined up on a bitterly cold Friday night at the Springvale property in the small country town of Wallabadah, just south of Tamworth for Round 2 of the popular series. With three stages set to challenge teams in the dark, it would be the Toyota [...]
Ruggles Motorsport start Clubman Assault at AMH Automotive Group Rally of the Bay
The Ruggles Motorsport Team are planning a full assault on the 2020 Techworkz Automotive NSW Clubman Rally Series in their Group 4 specification Triumph TR7 V8. It’s an all family affair for the team with lead engineer and major sponsor Ben Ruggles heading up the team, Matt Ruggles driving and son Guy Ruggles in the co-drivers seat. They also have their adopted brother, ‘Pommy’ Paul Beaston on the Service Crew. Matt is no stranger to rallying, [...]
Arnhem Land – NT
By John McCredie In the North of Australia is a land area called Arnhem Land. It is an Aboriginal reserve that covers almost 100,000 square kilometres and has some of the most remote communities in Australia. You could say that the Aboriginal people own this land and whilst that is essentially true, the idea of ownership has quite a different meaning in their culture. Recently I was privileged enough to be able [...]
Jackson Long Set to Defend Junior Cup Lead at Rally Queensland
Young gun Jackson Long is ready to take on one of his biggest tests yet as the 2025 Accent Benchtops Rally Queensland roars into Gympie this weekend. Currently leading the ARC Junior Cup with 190 points, Long is eyeing another strong result to extend his advantage over closest rival Jaidyn Gluskie, who sits on 90 points. After taking maximum points at the Forest Rally in Western Australia and his strong performance with a heat win at the Rally of [...]
