Who is Rutledge Wood? Meet the Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge host

NBC will be bringing a brand new reality series Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge to viewers, with an extremely interesting premise. The car makeover competition series will premiere on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, at 10 pm ET on the network. The show will send viewers back into a journey of nostalgia as the car lovers participate to transform regular cars into Hot Wheels-inspired models.

Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge will be hosted by Rutledge Wood. The star is known to host some of the most interesting competitions, including Top Gear, Floor is Lava, and many more.

With enough experience in the automotive industry, he will be seen guiding the contestants to create top Hot Wheels models throughout the course of the competition.

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Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge host Rutledge Wood will guide the superfans

Host Rutledge Wood will be seen on season 1 of NBC's new reality competition series Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge. Considering his experience, he is the right person to guide two superfans each week as they compete to make the best possible versions of a real-life Hot Wheels car.

Rutledge's official website describes him as a "simple man," and "what you see is literally what you get."

The Birmingham, Alabama, native discovered his passion around the sale of cars and restoration of the same from his father. Over the years, the host has owned over 60 cars.

According to his official website, Rutledge began his television career after he answered a Craigslist advertisement and began as a co-host on SPEED.

Rutledge is well-known for being a co-host on Top Speed, the American version of the historic BBC automobile series. Before appearing as a host on Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge, he previously gained significant experience by hosting several shows, including Floor is Lava and The American Barbecue Showdown.

According to NBC, Rutledge also appeared on Fox Sports 1, where he covered NASCAR for 10 seasons. He is known to have hosted many events under the umbrella, including the annual NASCAR Awards Banquet., SPEED Road Tour Challenge, NASCAR Smarts, and NASCAR Live, among others.

In March 2023, Rutledge announced that he'd be hosting season 1 of Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge. He captioned the announcement post:

"So excited to be hosting Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge for @nbc with @hertlife & @delshk ! It’s all about taking a special car from someone’s past, and remaking it into the Life-Sized @hotwheelsofficial of their dreams! Thank you to everyone that helped make this possible ❤️❤️ So excited for y’all to see it!"

To accompany Rutledge in his journey will be guest judges Ford Motors designer Dalal Elsheikh, and car culture influencer Hertrech Eugene Jr. The show will also include several celebrity judges - WWE breakout star Big E, AGT host Terry Crews, Sung Kang, Jay Leno, and Anthony Anderson.

Rutledge and the other judges will help the Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge contestants throughout the competition - from design creations to the ultimate finished Hot Wheels-inspired model in the end. The winner of each episode will receive a cash prize of $25,000.

Three of the winners will also earn the opportunity to compete for an extra grand cash prize of $50,000. The network revealed that one of them will have the chance "to have their winning design made into an official Hot Wheels die-cast car."

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Rutledge has an estimated net worth of $3 million. The host has a whopping 359K followers on Instagram, where he updates his followers and fans with his new projects and ventures.

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Season 1 of Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge will see the Hot Wheels superfans give it their all to gain a chance of receiving the cash prize and also a chance to have their design come to fruition into a brand new Hot Wheels car. Viewers will have to wait and see how it all pans out,

Don't forget to tune in to the season premiere on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, at 10 pm ET on NBC.