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.
NSW Development Rally Series – Datto Wins!
Michael and Erin Valantine achieved first outright in the 2017 Techworkz Automotive New South Wales Development Rally Series – or DRS. The MV Solar team of Father and Daughter, started out on a high, with a win at the first of the six-round series in their 2WD Datsun Stanza. The Singleton Automotive Caves Classic rally was the opening round, and a win here was exactly the start to the season Valantine was looking for. Suffering from [...]
Rallying Returns to the Red Centre
Special stage rallying is making a welcome return to Central Australia, with nine local cars set to tackle the inaugural Red Desert Rally Sprint on Saturday, October 3. Alice Springs has an active rally club and a strong grassroots scene built around motorkhana and khanacross events. But it has been a long time since locals have had the chance to contest a special stage rally organised in their own backyard. The Red Desert Rally Sprint aims [...]
Big Names Set to Battle for Glory at the 2025 Lazer Rally of the Bay
With a near full field and entries capped at 65, anticipation is building for the 2025 Lazer Rally of the Bay on Saturday 2nd August. The iconic Batemans Bay based event is the next round of the Shamrock Haulage NSW Rally Championship, East Coast Classic Rally Series (ECCRS) and introduces the Shamrock Haulage RD Cup, a regularity rally for new and seasoned competitors. The weekend promises to bring fierce competition across all categories. Crews will tackle ten demanding stages, [...]
All in the Family – Brads 1978 Range Rover
This article is the first of our user submitted stories. If you want to be featured, just send us an email or contact us via our Facebook page. Brad Clayton’s 1978 Range Rover is the two door variety and has been affectionately named ‘sofie’ ever since it was registered. The name doesn’t have any real significance other than a reference to the number plate. It’s been a daily drive since it was registered and has been in the family [...]
National Title starts at AMH Automotive Group Rally of the Bay
PHOTO: Roy Meuronen NSW based competitors who aspire for an Australian Rally Championship (ARC) award, can now register and score points towards the ARC4 award by competing at the Batemans Bay based, AMH Automotive Group Rally of the Bay event. Motorsport Australia has updated the Sporting and Technical Regulations for the RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Championship and the ARC4 award includes the Rally of the Bay. The ARC4 award is open to competitors who are [...]
Redhead Ready for Redemption at the 2025 Lazer Rally of the Bay
After a tough start to the season, young gun Josh Redhead and experienced co-driver Ray Winwood-Smith are looking to bounce back in a big way at the 2025 Lazer Rally of the Bay, one of the most anticipated rounds of the Shamrock Haulage NSW Rally Championship. Redhead has shown flashes of serious speed in 2025 but has also had more than his fair share of bad luck. At Round 1 in Canberra, he banked some points early but saw [...]
O’Malley’s Narooma nightmare: Inside the single-pin fault that cost a championship charge
PHOTOS: Roy Meuronen Photography James O’Malley and co-driver Jono Forrest will head to Batemans Bay with plenty to fight for when they contest the 2026 Lazer Rally of the Bay on Saturday, 25 July. The single-day event is the third round of the Shamrock Haulage NSW Rally Championship and will provide the O’Malley Rally Team with an important opportunity to recover from a disappointing result at the previous round in Narooma. O’Malley and Forrest completed [...]
Patrols Dominate at COMEUP XWC Round 3 – 2019
It’s been nearly ten years since the Comeup Xtreme Winch Challenge has ventured north into Central Queensland, but on the weekend of July 12-14, it was back with an action-packed weekend of extreme 4WD winching action. Seventeen Central Queensland based teams lined up on Friday night to tackle the first of three stages, set in the Seeonee Park grounds on the outskirts of Rockhampton. It would be a pair of Nissan Patrols taking the first [...]
FELK Rally Team ready for AMH Automotive Group Rally of the Bay
PHOTOS: D&S Photography The two car FELK Rally Team is looking forward to the start of the 2020 rally season and have entered their two Subaru WRX STI’s in the AMH Automotive Group Rally of the Bay. Riley Walters will be driving the lead car and is just 17. He kicked off his rallying career in 2019 driving the Subaru in the AMSAG rally series. It was a successful start with Riley taking home three trophies [...]
