Team Wild Grace Ready to Conquer the 2018 Rebelle Rally with the Nissan Armada

• The Rebelle Rally, a 10-day off-road adventure with eight days of competition, is the first women's off-road navigation rally in the United States

• Work-from-home mothers Sedona Blinson and Leah Heffelfinger will pilot Team Wild Grace

• Rich in off-road heritage, Armada is an ideal vehicle to navigate through the stunning and challenging terrains of the Rebelle Rally

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, California – October 4, 2018: This won't be a typical week at the office for work-from-home mothers Sedona Blinson and Leah Heffelfinger. But it will be filled with terrain familiar to the Nissan Armada. And Blinson and Heffelfinger, co-captains of Team Wild Grace, hope that fact will provide them a leg up on the competition as they traverse more than 1,500 miles of stunning off-road terrain in California and Nevada as participants in the 2018 Rebelle Rally.

The first women's off-road navigation rally in the United States, the Rebelle Rally begins Oct. 11 in Lake Tahoe and concludes Oct. 20 in San Diego.

"The Armada draws its heritage from the global Nissan Patrol – an SUV known around the world as a King of the Desert – and is a natural fit to succeed in an off-roading challenge like the Rebelle Rally," said Tiago Castro, director of trucks and SUVs, Nissan North America. "We are excited to watch Leah and Sedona take on the competition and show off Armada's authentic capability as a partner in any adventure."

Blinson, a veteran driver who has competed in the rally twice before, and Heffelfinger met at Overland Expo West five years ago and first participated in the Rebelle Rally as a team in 2017 with a Nissan Frontier PRO-4X.

"That little truck was amazing. Its light-weight stature and small footprint made it easy to manage through the tough terrain," said Heffelfinger, an adventure-seeker from California who now resides in Flagstaff, Arizona. "What I'm really looking forward to this year, though, are the plush seats of the Armada along with its significant ground clearance."

Team Wild Grace's 2018 Armada Platinum is stock with the exception of a full set of dirt-grabbing Nitto Ridge Grappler tires – perfect for gripping sand and hauling through the Nevada and California deserts. It is also wrapped in a custom-designed vehicle wrap completed by IF Signs.

Heffelfinger and Blinson will spend up to 13 hours each day in the Armada. Per the rally's rules, no electronic devices are permitted except for rudimentary digital cameras. Teams will use maps and a compass to weave their way through some of the most scenic and challenging terrain America has to offer.

It also means Heffelfinger and Blinson will be out of touch with family for over a week.

"We're allowed physical photos and that's about it," said Heffelfinger. "It's tough to be away from home without contact for so long, but it's our chance to get out and do something that's just for us."

After finishing outside of the top 10 last year, the team fully intends to improve its ranking this year behind the wheel of the Armada.

"We take the rally quite seriously and spend hours polishing up our analog navigational skills leading up to the rally," added Heffelfinger. "We've been working through previous years' maps and are in an excellent spot for this year."

Follow along with Team Wild Grace on its Instagram or Facebook channels, and track the team live on rebellerally.com/live starting Friday, Oct. 12. For more information on the 2019 Nissan Armada and Nissan's complete vehicle lineup, please visit NissanNews.com.

About the 2019 Nissan Armada
Now entering its third year, the second-generation Nissan Armada continues to set records. With no signs of this sales momentum slowing down, Armada adds to its list of standard equipment across all grade levels for the 2019 model year, including Rear Door Alert, Intelligent Cruise Control (ICC), Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) and Intelligent Forward Collision Warning (I-FCW).

As the flagship of Nissan's expanding lineup of SUVs and crossovers, Armada features 8-passenger seating, a 5.6-liter Endurance® V8 with best-in-class1 standard 390 horsepower and standard towing capacity of 8,500 pounds for both 4WD and 2WD models (when properly equipped).

The largest and most powerful vehicle in the SUV and crossover portfolio, Armada earns its flagship status by every measure – whether performance, refinement, advanced technology and even heritage. The second-generation Armada design traces back to one of Nissan's most beloved global off-road vehicles, the Patrol. While Armada is intended primarily for family adventures in North America, Armada owners will benefit from its underpinnings as a strong, durable and authentic full-size SUV with ruggedness to spare.

About the Rebelle Rally The Rebelle Rally is an event with a unique challenge and scoring system where precise navigation, not speed, is the ultimate goal. Participants trade in cell phones and GPS for old-school navigation in a competition with the elements of time, distance, headings, and hidden checkpoints. Armed with just maps, compasses, and roadbooks, up to 50 teams of two will be pushed to their limits as they make their way across 2,500+ kilometers of Nevada and California's iconic terrain. Entering its third year, to date the Rebelle Rally has hosted competitors from 139 cities, 35 states/provinces, and 7 countries. The world-class event is the longest competitive off-road rally in the lower 48, and takes place October 11th – October 20th with a start in Lake Tahoe and finish in San Diego.