Hot Wheels, for Real, at X Games

ESPN's extreme sports fest is coming to town with one huge toy.

Would the Hot Wheels Double Loop Dare, one of the centerpieces of this year's X Games, be a rare case of reverse engineering?

Figure this: There are many toys inspired by larger things in the real world. Dolls and cars and trains. But rarer is the real world object that is inspired by a kid's plaything.

The Double Loop is the exception. Based on the hot orange Mattel racetrack -- you can see it in the foreground above -- the loop is a six-story-tall track. Two human-sized cars, driven by humans, enter at once. There is no child's hand guiding the car up and down the track; rather, real-world acceleration and gravity play key roles.

The cars are set to zoom on Saturday, June 30 at the X Games, but the four-day extreme sports-a-thon has several happenings beyond what is surely its most buzzed-about event for 2012. Will there be Moto X Freestyle? Yep. Will there be BMX Big Air action? For sure. Will all sorts of athletes and daredevils be lifting cycles and boards to new heights? That's what the 17-year-old games are famous for.

A lot of the action'll be centered around LA Live and Staples Center, but the Hot Wheels Double Dare Loop is set to get busy at Gilbert Lindsay Plaza in front of the convention center. That'll happen at 11 a.m. on June 30. It's a world-record-breaking attempt, so plan on enthusiastic crowds.

Does it make you want to take your old tracks out, or ask the kids if you can play with theirs? 

X Games is on downtown from Thursday, June 28 through Sunday, July 1.

Follow NBCLA for the latest LA news, events and entertainment: iPhone/iPad App | Facebook; | Twitter; | Google+; | Instagram; | RSS; | Text Alerts | Email Alerts

Copyright FREEL - NBC Local Media
Contact Us