MEMBER RALLYE BIOS:
MARYBETH LINSE -– Has been rallying since the age of 15, mostly as a navigator. She became a master before she was old enough to drive. She wrote her first rallye for SUDDS with Sharon Bauer. Unfortunately there was a blizzard on that Hollyberry Havoc. She has been in the SCORE ,SUDDS, KRT and Wheels before joining the ranks of Brand- X. Recently she has written a Whoosh Witch and last year she wrote Pokemon the Rallye. In 2001 wrote Brand X Files, as we went on the search for Mulder.
JEFF LURIE – Born and raised in Chicagoland. Ran his first rallye in June 1967called June Bug. Joined the GVB Rallye Team in the fall of 1967. Wrote his first rallye June Bug II presented in June of 1968. In 1968 Jeff with Terry Edmunds and Art Knaple formed the UtRO Rallye Team (Untouchable Rallye Team). In August of 1969 before entering the Army, Jeff invented and presented in the September UtRO rallye the very first ‘and/or’ Route Instruction. Jeff returned to the Chicago scene in the spring of 1972. In 1973 Jeff was one of three UtRO co-rallyemasters for the first ‘UnRallye’. During the writing of the first UnRallye they discovered the small cemetery located in the Yorktown Mall parking lot along 22nd St. This is were Maria Brinkman is buried. In her honor she is mentioned in the General Instructions for each of the Whoosh Witch rallyes rallyemastered by Jeff. In 1973 took over being the main rallyemaster for writing Whoosh Witch. In April of 1974 Jeff wrote his first TSD (Time Speed Distance) road rallye, ‘You’ll Never Make it to Baja Senor’. In 1976 Jeff joined the Brand-X Rallye Team and brought Whoosh Witch and UnRallye with him. In 1977 joined Concours Plaines Rallye Team for running and writing TSD’s. Other rallyes principally written for Brand-X include ‘Car Trek’ loosely based on the Star Trek series of movies and Car Wars loosely based on the Star Wars series of movies. Over the years he has rallyemastered or co-rallyemastered somewhere in the area of 80 rallyes and has participated in some way in the production of over 275 road rallyes. One of the original Grandmasters.
KATHY LURIE -- Started rallying in 1975. While in KRT in the 70's CoRallyemaster King Arthur Won and King Arthur Too. As a member of Brand-X she wrote the very successful 'In Search of Margaritaville,' rallyes based on the life and times of Jimmy Buffett and the Parriothead way of life rallyes.
DIANE ROSONE – Diane is fifth generation born in Chicago. Has been rallying since 1972. Has raised a second generation rallyist, Keith. One of the original Grandmasters. First rallye was CARS 'Keep on Truckin'. Ran a limited number of rallyes in the spring of 1973. Despite that became a Master in June of 1973. Was a founding member of Sequoia Green Rallye Team. Then became a member of Brand-X later in 1973. First rallye written was 'Sign Lingo' in the Fall of 1973. Sign Lingo was a rallye that used a bingo type scoresheet where you used valid or invalid signs. Diane has since written several 'Sign Lingos'. Diane's second rallye written was 'March Forth I in 1974 and has been the principal rallyemaster for 'March Forth' ever since. March Forth is the longest running gimmick rallye with the same rallyemaster, even though for a short time it was presented by the KRT Rallye Team, Diane was still the rallyemaster. Diane was a Co-rallyemaster for 'Anything You Can Do, We Can Do Better'. This rallye was a challenge of the girls against the guys. Diane is credited with developing the mutual redundancy and mutual non-redundancy gimmicks.
KEITH ROSONE – Keith is 6th generation born in Chicago, 2nd generation rallyist. Wrote his first rallye at the age of 10, has rallyemastered all Field of Dweebs rallyes and assisted in writing several March Forth rallyes. A computer geek and math whiz, he attended Triton College in River Grove. Probably the youngest ever solo rallyemaster in CRC.
BILL WALLACE -- Born and raised in the tobacco fields of eastern North Carolina, graduate of Duke, MS in Engineering from Northwestern. Came to Chicago for the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Has been rallying since 1971, and has written or collaborated on over 60 of the more than 250 rallyes presented by Brand-X since 1972. Bill's signature event is the "God Is My Navigator" series and he is the principal rallyemaster currently for "UnRallye." Bill has written Point-to-Point and TSD rallyes as well as gimmick rallyes, plus legs of the famous "St. Valentine's Day Massacre" national map rallye for CP. He once got an Addenda published in millions of Chicago Telephone Directories, which lay dormant for a year, but became an executable instruction on one of our rallyes (actually it was for Gary DePalma's"Punched Out"). At a checkpoint the Chicago Telephone Directory was given out and they were collected at the endpoint. The listing was for Mr. North Addenda but when published it read 'Addenda North' in the 'A' section of the directory. Other interests: SCUBA diving and making trophies. One of the original Grandmasters.
LINDA WALLACE -- Born and raised in Chicago, hates the winters -- professional SCUBA Diving Instructor -- spends as much time in the water as possible. Met her husband, Bill on a rallye. Rallyemaster of the "Willy Wonka" and "Alice in Wanderland" events, plus one "Car Trek" episode where you had to speak Klingon and bargain with a Ferengi. Currently, the creativity behind the Harry Potter rallyes. Ran TSD rallies as a member of CP (Concours Plaines) and supported the novice mini TSD series. One of the original Grandmasters.
BARRY & JAN HOLMBLAD -- Barry has been rallying since the late 1970's and was a member of the KRT rallye team. As novices, Barry and his brother Bob wrote Monty Zoomer's Revenge and WKRT the Rallye. After a brief hiatus of 15 years, Barry returned to rallying and finally became a master with his wife Jan. Jan ran her first rallye in 1983 and never even made it to the endpoint. Eleven years later, she met Barry and together they ran Whoosh Witch XXVII. Not only did she make it to the endpoint, but, she went home with a 1st novice trophy to boot. Barry is the designated driver because he likes to drive like Jeff Gordon. Jan enjoys being the navigator because she likes to tell Barry where to go. Barry and Jan became masters in 2000 and won the Brand-X Rallye Championship in 2000, 2001 & 2003.
CRAIG BOOTS** -- Craig started rallying in 1968 while attending N.I.U. Also got his first taste of rallyemastering gimmick rallyes at N.I.U. He ran local gimmick Saturday night rallyes that started at the time at Harlem - Irving Plaza. Later switched to TSD rallyes that mainly ran during the daytime. Joined Concours Plaines Rallye Team (CP). Craig has extensive experience working local event, SCCA Divisional, National and Pro-Rallyes. Worked the local novice Mini TSD series. Rallyemastered TSD rallyes such as Northeast by East for CP and several mini TSD series rallyes. Also a member of Minis in Northern Illinois. Has a Mini Clubman Estate, which is setup as a1970's rallye service car. Writing the gimmick rallye for this years Mini Meet in Rockford sponsored by Minis In Northern Illinois and the Mid-America Diehard Mini Enthusiasts' Network.
Other members include:
KATHY THOMAS DAREN WALSH DAVE & DIANE DAVENPORT
LOU KROMA JIM & DAWN NIEHOFF**
**Our newest members
contact us: SendMeInfo@brandxrallyerteam.com