This interest started with Hofteig’s grandpa. He raced from 1973 until 2007. This activity got passed down to Hofteig’s dad, Andy. He started racing in the 1990’s and then introduced it to his son. 

Hofteig started this journey at age 4. Originally, he raced go karts. From there, he raced a micro sprint for two years. Micro sprint is a small, open-wheel race car that is powered by a high revving 600cc motorcycle engine that is made for dirt or clay oval tracks.

Since last year, he has moved up to dirt late models. A dirt late model is similar to a race car. It produces around 400 horsepower from a Chevrolet V8 and a combined gross weight of roughly 2,350 pounds speeding around a dirt oval track. For the 2026 season, Hofteig will be running the concept that increases the power output to 470 horsepower. 

The company he uses to build his cars is MB Customs. It is located in Menomonie, Wisconsin. They build the chassis, body, and other parts of the car.

A big impact of driving dirt late model cars is the obvious, just the knowledge of driving, especially at a young age. There are not many people his age that have the confidence or skill to drive that fast and that safe. 

A crucial part of driving is the safety equipment. They have to wear a helmet, a fireproof racesuit, shoes, gloves, and a hans device. A hans device is worn around the neck to provide support for head and neck, and the purpose is to restrict the head from moving to prevent injury during a race.

These racers face many emotions throughout the day of the race. 

“When I’m getting there, I’m like pulling into the track. I’m very excited. Like I finally get to race after a week of maintenance and working on the car,” Clayton Hofteig said. 

After the high before the race, they have to focus.

“I don’t think during the races you don’t really focus on anything besides for where you’re driving,” Hofteig said.

Afterwards, it’s a time to reflect.

“I think it’s more like what could I have done better? What could I what did I do that was good? What did I do that was not good? How could I hit the track bit differently?” Hofteig said.

Hofteig has put a lot of time and effort into this activity. He hopes that this can continue after high school. In about 2 years, he will be driving a Wasota car or a part of World of Outlaws. The World of Outlaws league uses faster and more powerful versions of dirt late model cars. He would also get the opportunity to travel to about 40 states and compete. 

After around 10 years of driving so far, Hoftieg has a bright future for his racing career.