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NBC Insider Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge

Where to Watch Hot Wheels™: Ultimate Challenge – Premiere Date, Celeb Judges & More

This competition series hosted by Rutledge Wood brings Hot Wheels™ superfans together to create their dream car.

By Caitlin Busch

What do you get when you combine childhood nostalgia with suped-up dream cars, passionate fans, and exciting celebrity guests? NBC's new competition series Hot Wheels™: Ultimate Challenge will bring viewers all this and more.

How to Watch

Watch Hot Wheels™: Ultimate Challenge on NBC and Peacock.

Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge revs up to give passionate car lovers and Hot Wheels superfans the opportunity of a lifetime – turning a nostalgic car from their past into the life-sized Hot Wheels of their dreams.

Hosted by car aficionado Rutledge Wood, each episode will invite two superfans into the Chrome Zone, where they will face off in transforming an ordinary vehicle into an extraordinary Hot Wheels showstopper, inspired by personal stories and pop culture touchstones. Working alongside a team of automotive magicians known as “The Car Pool,” the two superfans will create their designs in high-tech, decked-out garages.

RELATED: Who Is Rutledge Wood, the Host of NBC's Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge?

The winner of each episode will take home $25,000 and the chance to get into the finale, where three lucky finalists will transform another car in hopes of winning a legendary prize: An additional $50,000 and the honor of having their build made into an official Hot Wheels die-cast car.

So not only are lifelong Hot Wheels fans going to get to design the car of their dreams, but they'll be doing so in front of a host of rotating celebrity guest judges! These judges will join host Rutledge Wood and resident experts Dalal Elsheikh, designer for the Ford Motor Company, and Hertrech “Hert” Eugene Jr., car culture influencer, in encouraging and critiquing contestants' creations throughout the season, where they will review the epic car transformations and crown a winner.

Jay Leno joins the finale episodes and will have a hand in determining the transformation that will be made into an official Hot Wheels die-cast car! Ted Wu, Global Head of Design for Mattel’s Vehicles division, also joins the finale, offering unmatched Hot Wheels expertise as a winner is selected.

The winning Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge die-cast car will be available for purchase on Mattel Creations, Mattel's collector and direct-to-consumer platform immediately following the finale.

Where and when can you watch Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge?

New episodes of Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge air every Tuesday at 10 PM ET/PT on NBC, with new episodes available next-day on Peacock at 6AM ET. The series' official aftershow, Best Builds, is also available next-day on Peacock and NBC.com

Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge is an original format developed and produced by Endemol Shine North America in association with Workerbee under license from Mattel Inc. Executive producers are showrunner Tim Warren, along with Andy Thomas, Sharon Levy, DJ Nurre and Michael Heyerman from Endemol Shine North America; Rick Murray and Chris Hale from Workerbee (a Banijay UK Company); and Fred Soulie and Phil Breman from Mattel Television.

Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge premieres new episodes on Tuesdays at 10PM ET/PT on NBC.

This story was originally published on May 5, 2023. It was updated on May 31, 2023.