We know what you’re thinking.
“Vibe 200? What happened to the Azteks from last year?”
Well, let’s just say rallycross racing wasn’t kind to some of them. A couple of our Azteks departed from this life and went on to that big machine shop in the sky. And since we were down to two Azteks—and suddenly had twice the number of racers from last year—we needed a new plan… and a new car for our influencers to race.
Enter the Pontiac Vibe. When you think about it, they have a lot of similarities with the Aztek: they’re both Pontiacs, which also means they’re both discontinued; they both have a back hatch, and both were manufactured in the early to mid-2000’s. So we figured the Vibe would make a great replacement for the Aztek.
But good news! The Azteks that survived last year’s race are still alive and kicking! They may or may not make an appearance in the Vibe 200—you’ll have to tune in to find out!
Derek Bieri
Derek is our defending champion, the winner of last year’s Aztek 200. His knack for barn finds and junkyard rescues is featured on his channel, “Vice Grip Garage.” He also serves as the host of the O’Reilly podcast “In the Aisles”, where he’s interviewed several of this year’s competitors.
Alex Taylor
Alex started helping build cars at around age seven alongside her dad, years before she started her YouTube channel, “Riding With Alex Taylor”. She raced her first real project car (a ’68 Camaro she calls “Badmaro”) at Hot Rod Drag Week—when she was just 16 years old.
Tate Morgan
Tate is the founder and principal of the Gambler 500, a low-budget navigational rally focused on fun, adventure, and picking up trail trash. He’s also involved in the Sons of Smokey organization and the HooptieX racing series.
Tony Angelo
Tony is a stunt driver and professional drift racer who helped blaze the trail for drifting back in the 90s. He’s the founder and President of Drift Alliance, and you might recognize him as a former host of Motor Trend’s “HOT ROD Garage”—or from his YouTube channel, “Stay Tuned”.
Rae Ripple
Rae is a world-renowned metal artist, author, and stunt driver who has experience in everything from waitressing to firefighting. She’s been featured on the Netflix reality series “Metal Shop Masters”, and as a speaker, her platform focuses on advocating for trades.
Brad DeBerti
Brad is a professional NASCAR driver who also enjoys off-road, rally cross and drifting. He’s a longtime custom car builder, and in 2017, he became NASCAR’s Rookie of the Year. He also posts regularly on his YouTube channel, where he makes content with his dad.
Westen Champlin
Westen has been working on cars his whole life, and creating content that he refers to as “Redneck Science” for his YouTube page since 2019. One of his specialties is building vehicles with high-horsepower engines, but he also enjoys testing the limits of vehicles in extreme conditions.
Dylan Hughes
Dylan has been a Pro-1 Formula Drift driver for seven seasons, and has been on the podium each of the last four. When he’s not drifting, he’s busy building all his own cars (he’s a master fabricator and welder), and also enjoys riding dirt bikes and paramotoring.
David Freiburger
David is a former Hot Rod Magazine editor who has also hosted the web series “Roadkill”. He’s a lifelong mechanic who has spent most of his career working for brands owned by the Motor Trend Group, and will finish out this year announcing a number of NHRA events.
