Team crew for car #369.
Isabella Cook
Isabella Cook serves as service crew, supporting rally teams by organizing service areas, sourcing spare parts, keeping cameras charged, and facilitating communication between drivers and crew. Drawn to rally by the people, she values the friendships, shared stories, and sense of community that make each event meaningful beyond the cars themselves. After first attending OTR 2024, shortly after arriving in the U.S. from Australia, Isabella quickly found a rally family that transformed her from a supporter of a friend’s passion into an active and enthusiastic part of the sport.
In Isabella's own words
"As I’m still recovering from a recent procedure, my role as crew was to help organise the service areas, find spare parts, ensure cameras were charged and ready, and facilitate communication between drivers and crew. No wrenching for me, but I still felt like part of a team in my own way!"
"OTR 2024 was my first event- I had only arrived in the US from Australia the week before! My role was service crew, and while I still had lots to learn about wrenching and cars in general, I was proud to be able to help with the Haltech ECU software and other small tasks. They felt big to me!"
"I usually crew for my husband Jacob in car #369- 'Devastator'. He named the team 'Ditch Please Racing Konsortium' as a joke, acting like it wasn’t just him alone in his garage."
"Fast forward a little while, and now we service multiple cars with a huge shared crew that includes some of our best friends."
I think the feeling of friendship and family within our teams, even in the most heated moments, is the coolest thing about our group. That, and the endless amount of cat booty shirts."
Her favorite moments: "I walked around Parc Expose at OTR 2025 with my own custom ‘Miss America’ sash, celebrating the recent approval of my green card. While I received many compliments, I mostly enjoyed the people who couldn’t guess where my accent was from. Irish and British were my favorites, and an honourable mention to the person who thought I was Canadian."
I spoke to Rhiannon Gelsomino briefly at service, and she guessed I was Australian right away! Herself and Richo Butts have their names mispronounced all the time- apparently saying it correctly was a dead giveaway about where I was from"
"The people are what make these events worth attending. Cars are the main attraction on paper, but I spend most of my weekend catching up with familiar faces, meeting new people, and sharing stories with the awesome community we’ve built. None of this could happen without them!"
Other rally involvement
"I love to attend HooptieX events, and enjoy AutoX at the Packwood venue with SCCA. I participate in as many West Coast rallies as possible." - Isabella
For more stories in Face of OTR 2025: https://www.apexiel.com/user/thread/7JF4Cwpb6jm7reUlVbH0
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