DOOR COUNTY (NBC 26) — A vacation to Door County is a trip Mark Kelley and his family take each summer.
Visiting from Wales, he says his kids are the fifth generation of the family to enjoy the area.
But for Kelley, this summer is different because he's also on NBC's Hot Wheels Ultimate Challenge.
The finale of this season was played on August 8th, and now Kelley and his family can enjoy Door County.
"I thought geez, I’ve been away in a long time, really. So now is all about trying to kind of get back some of that time and get some good family time," said Kelley.
Kelley was gone for ten weeks.
"I love to just get completely immersed in something that's very out of my kind of usual day-to-day," said Kelley when talking about his decision to sign up for the show.
Kelley owns a car shop himself where he makes custom builds.
"I'm kind of the guy that if you have a dream, you have some crazy thing that you want to build-you come to me," said Kelley.
This attitude is what made Kelley perfect for NBC’s Hot Wheels Ultimate challenge tv Show.
Working as an "automotive magician" or in the "carpool" as it is referred to in the show was a great fit for Kelley.
"The carpoolers are the people that are basically in charge of trying to kind of realize the dream of the super fan," said Kelley
These carpoolers work alongside a super-fan to create their dream Hot Wheels car.
The winner of each episode takes home $25,000 and they have a chance to be in the finale, where they can win an additional $50,00 and have their design made into an official Hot Wheels Die-Cast car.
Mark's wife, Sarah, says the family has enjoyed their time in Door County. Especially when it comes to watching Hot Wheels Ultimate Challenge.
"Being able to see the show live because obviously, you know, when we were in Wales before we came on vacation, we couldn't," said Sarah Kelley.
Their sons, Elliott and Jacob say that aspect has been interesting.
"H was right next to us watching it but then he was on the tv as well," said Jacob Kelley.
Planning to watch the second part of the season finale with the company of family and friends, Mark Kelley says he is happy to be back at the place he spent so many summers growing up.
"I've been lots of places in the world. Cars have taken me all over. I've been to the Middle East. I've been to Europe, and I’ve seen lots of different things and I still think Door County is just fantastic," said Kelley.
Season one of Hot Wheels Ultimate Challenge can be streamed on Peacock.
