MOTOR SPORT
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They call themselves the Nacho Men – and they are men on a mission.
Hawkesbury men Grant Watson and Dane Griffis are taking part in the 2015 Shitbox Rally to raise money for the Cancer Council.
The rules are simple – Watson and Griffis need to get from Canberra to Townsville via the Birdsville Track and the Simpson Desert in six days between May 9 and 15.
The catch? They have to do it in a car worth less than $1000.
Watson said the pair were taking on the challenge for a simple reason.
“Both Dane and I have had people in our lives affected by cancer,” he said.
“Pretty much everyone doing the rally knows someone with cancer or has had it themselves.
“It is a great cause to raise money for the charity but also the rally exposes you to challenges you wouldn’t face day to day.
“I guess it’s sort of a metaphor for the struggles that people with cancer go through every day.”
The pair has already raised more than $5000 for the Cancer Council and want to get to $6000 before they set off.
“For the entire rally they’re hoping to raise around the same as last year which was over $1.5 million,” Watson said.
“It’s up to about $800,000 at the moment. Our personal goal at the start was a bit ambitious to get to $10,000.
“We didn’t know what to expect being our first time so now we’re aiming for $6,000 before we go.”
Teams surrender their cars in Townsville on completion of the trip where they are auctioned to raise more funds.
The pair settled on their team name as a reference to the early days of their friendship.
“We met in high school in year 7 in the canteen line,” Watson said.
“We were both buying nacho flavour Doritos so we went with the Mexican theme and called ourselves the Nacho Men.”
The car, an old Ford station wagon, was bought at a car yard in Penrith for $700. The exterior was painted by artist Taryn Malzard, a long-time family friend of Watson.
The Nacho Men have one final fundraiser before their trip at the new Marsden Park Bunnings on Sunday.
The boys will be running a barbeque from 9am to 4pm and showing off their station wagon.
Anyone who wants to donate can visit the Nacho Men Everyday Hero page at
https://shitboxrally2015.everydayhero.com/au/nacho-men