Alix was born in Denver, Colorado in 1984. He lived in Lakewood, CO until 2004 and then moved to Laramie, Wyoming where he currently resides, working as the Environmental Analytical Chemist at Wyoming Analytical Laboratories as well as a farmer at the University of Wyoming experimental farm.
Since he was young, Alix has always been interested in cars and racing though sports and school took precedence during his high school years. He was a member of the 4-time state championship golf team in high school as well as being a member of the high school wrestling team. In addition, he was a member of National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, and as a student researcher for Mike Thomas in the MHS research laboratory.
One of the highlights in Alix’s recent career includes having his first publication for the Selective Extraction of Ammonia in Soil as an addendum to the ASTM method 3590, Kjeldahl Total Nitrogen. He also competed in his first rodeo in September- team roping with good friend, Phil Groesser.
Alix started rallying in 2003 in the SCCA rally cross program in Colorado after a brief history in street racing, which almost ended in arrest one night in Southern Denver. He was dragged out to his first rally cross in Pueblo, CO by Steve Bis in November 2003 and was hooked ever since. His first actual rally ride was with Drew Goldsmith at the Monarch Hillclimb in 2004 in a 1990 Toyota Celica All-trac Turbo, which ended up as a mechanical DNF. However, he ended up navigating for Mitchell Williams in his newly built 2000 Subaru Impreza and has been co-driving for Williams ever since. Not all was smooth, though, for he and Williams put the brand new rally car into a ditch in their first race together. Things went rather smoothly until their first stage rally together, where the team of Williams/Hakala beachballed Brian McGuire’s Honda Civic off a cliff, which put Hakala in the hospital. Since 2004, Hakala has found a lot of success navigating for Williams. The team had their first regional rally overall victory at Rally Colorado in 2007, first overall for the Southwest Rally Series that same year, as well as a podium for the year in 2008 in the United States Rally Championship
Alix’s favorite rally memory has to do with the Checkpoint Team’s recent rally adventure to Rally Tennessee in 2008. The team got to see a lot of the country that none of them has ever experienced, including Elvis Presley’s residence and the incredibly fast-paced tour that entailed.
Alix considers his hobbies quite eclectic. He enjoys a vast array of music, including ambient/experimental, speed and power metal, and country. His lifestyle profile really dictates that he should like NASCAR, but this is not so… rally is the most pure form of motor sport, and no other compares. He enjoys his job in chemistry, and loves his duties as a farmhand even more so.
