"The Pirate" Relaxes In the Rally Off-Season
Friday, January 8, 2010
 The three month off season in Rally America isn’t time off for series drivers and teams. As Rally America prepares for the 2010 rally season, we’re taking a look at how our teams are getting ready for the 2010 season that opens the last weekend in January at Sno*Drift in Atlanta, Michigan.
Ben Slocum, the perpetual co-driver and self proclaimed “rally nut,” is in high demand. With seasons in both the US and Canada coming to a close, Ben’s schedule is booked and he continues to log miles upon miles helping teams fine tune their skills and become more efficient.
Ben is one of the rally faithful you can’t miss at a rally event. His physical presence instantly gives him away in a crowd having red hair, standing tall at 6’ 4”, and built big enough to move fallen trees with one swift motion which reminds one of “Paul Bunyan.” However, this isn’t the nickname people refer him to; “The Pirate” is what his fellow compatriots lovingly revert to.
“The Pirate” stems from an unfortunate accident from securing a tarp with a bungy cord that cost him the use of his left eye causing him to occasionally wear an eye patch. Losing his depth perception impacted his ability to drive rally cars. Only his perseverance, love for the sport and fantastic teaching ability gave him a new path and maintain his insatiable appetite for rally. Though Slocum is physically too big to be a professional rally driver, his injury helped him concentrate on skilled navigation… and as rally fans know, a driver isn’t much without a good co-driver.
Today, Ben is one of most demanded co-driver/coach in Rally America. His patience, popularity, and bellicose personality made him the perfect co-driver to help new drivers break into the sport, and giving experienced drivers someone they can instantly trust and gain results. Ben helped young driver, Dillon Van Way, win the National 2-Wheel Drive title with podium finishes at Rally Colorado and LSPR, and finished the year co-driving for David Allan to first in Class at the CARS Tall Pines Rally.
After 16 events and 120 days on the road in 2009, Ben isn’t taking a break from the sport. With that much time spent at events interacting with teams, Slocum has become integrated into the fabric of rally where he continually travels at a moments notice even during the off-season.
“It takes 10 minutes warning, a vague promise of excitement and I’ll pretty much go anywhere!” maintains Slocum.
For example, at the Rallye de Paris after party, Slocum ran into the Utecht family and crew who invited him back to Minnesota to participate in the annual chili party, where rally Minnesotans gather for an off-season party and stay warm huddled around stoves and hot chilies. He stayed with the Utechts and rewarded them with a 6 course dinner featuring a bevy of gourmet dishes involving herb pinwheels, pheasant with sage and prosciutto with puff pastry with a blueberry malbeck reduction, salad with Dijon vinaigrette, lamb with roasted potatoes! And dessert with bourbon!
Slocum is keeping busy expanding his role in rally and filling much needed positions on rally teams. Seeing needs in team management and instructions has given him more desire to stay focused on the sport and providing even more value to teams looking to improve efficiency.
 “There are too many opportunities in rally,” says Slocum, “I had a number of teams call me for one-on-one training. Whether I'm in a car or not, my life is revolving around this sport. I co-drive, crew and coach and find every opportunity to do so, even during the off season”
Slocum expects to help train a few teams during the holidays on recce/notetaking and helping shakedown new cars for the 2010 season. Slocum has already been busy developing new teams having traveled to Rallye de Paris for the last round of the Rally America Central Division Series to help coach Dillon Van Way’s mother and brothers as they competed in their first events. Despite a few issues everyone was able to finish with no navigational errors and place overall wins with a car not known for its rally prowess, a Subaru Baja.
Slocum is looking forward to the new 2010 season and the addition of three new exhibition European rallycross events.
“I see the new events in New Jersey adding a new fan base in the Tri-State area who hasn't had an opportunity to witness Rallys up close. Although co-drivers won't be used, I feel this offers a chance for me to expand on my team managment role that I've been working into over the last few seasons.”
That said, we can expect to see more of Slocum both in and out of the car, or on and off the couch when visiting his rally friends. Keep a watch out for “The Pirate” at a rally near you!
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