Hooptie X Racing

If you have a passion for racing, what’s stopping you from getting behind the wheel? Is it your time? Maybe. Too nervous? That’s possible. Not enough money? Yeah, that’s likely it. We get it. Racing ain’t cheap. But, thanks to organizations like Hooptie X, there’s cheap racing.

“Our goal is if you have the itch for racing but don’t have the wallet to do it, you can still come out and have fun,” said co-owner and coordinator for the Hooptie X series Jason Alistock. Jason joined forces with husband-and-wife Jeremy and Amy Hedman to start Hooptie X. “Just three friends who are close enough and dumb enough to turn our passion into a job.”

Hooptie X is an off-road racing organization that doesn’t discriminate against racers’ budgets, vehicles, experience, or even skill. Instead, it’s a series where new Jeeps, RAM trucks, four-door cars, and junkyard pickups all compete.

The rules are simple. There aren’t any—excluding safety, of course. They offer fire extinguishers for sale and even safety gear for rent. You only need the basics, like safe seat restraints, a helmet, and a fire extinguisher.

The competition is simple as well. There are essentially three classes: 2WD, 4WD, and the Hater Class. Those in the 2WD and 4WD can be any stock-ish vehicle, from a $500 Jeep saved from a crusher to a 2022 Ram pickup. The Hater class is filled with purpose-built racers. It’s often by the promoter’s discretion. “You can go out and buy a brand-new car or a 1997 Cavalier, there’s no dollar restriction, and you don’t have to spend 30k to go race,” said Jeremy. Most competitors don’t care who wins, only that everyone has fun.

Friends Austin Peterson and Grady Edmondson came out to co-drive their freshly spray-painted 2000 Dodge Dakota. Austin picked up the truck for $400. “Oh yeah, I have some tires in the bed I could sell, so technically, I have less than that in it,” laughed Austin. He was anticipating competing at the Ford Fest Hooptie X challenge, but his Explorer blew up, so he quickly picked this one up, and Grady came out to help. “It’s rough, and there are shocks left,” said Austin. “But we're just here to have fun.”

Garrett Rodda co-drives his boss’s 1993 Jeep Cherokee with his girlfriend, Jennah Sturm. His boss from Absolute Auto in Madison, Tennessee, dropped off the car and threw Garrett the keys. He usually drives an LS-swapped pre-runner but had so much fun at LS Fest that they brought out this Jeep they had parked dormant behind the shop. “Pretty sure we blew a shock, but we’re just lettin‘ her eat,” laughed Garrett. “This is the first time doing anything like this.”

“It’s really nerve-racking your first time. You don’t know how hard to hit a jump,” said Jennah. “I think it’s best to run it to scale and then create a course of action on how to run the course. It’s a lot of fun to figure out, and yeah, we don’t have any shocks left.”