Cars doing kickflips, you say?

October 17, 2026

Ever heard of NASCAR Racers? The kids TV show only lasted two seasons at the turn of the millennium, but was also released at the height of stock car racing’s popularity. That aside, among the main features of the in-universe Unlimited Division cars are hydraulics and thrusters that allow drivers to bicycle, flip, and stabilize both on the ground and mid-air.

That’s what the new Tesla Roadster reminds us of. The second generation was unveiled on Thursday at SpaceX’s rocket test facility, using thrusters from said company to flip through the air off large ramps. One stunt involves the Roadster clearing five Teslas using the thrusters to flip.

Elon Musk, being the owner of both brands, simply joked about the space-faring capabilities of the Roadster. Which, in fairness, might be for the best after his questionable analogies for the Cybertruck. Still, it didn’t stop people from making comparisons. NASCAR Racers was brought up by some, but that might be too niche. The flying cars joke was cited here and there.

Skateboarding, maybe? A lot of media outlets like Fox called the flip a kickflip, which makes sense since a kickflip rotates your board counterclockwise if you have a regular stance (as opposed to a heelflip). Tesla’s YouTube channel even quipped in the video description that “Tony would be proud”.

Was he, though?

“Yes, I’ve seen the car ‘kickflip’,” Tony Hawk wrote in an Instagram Story, “but I’m only interested if/when it can 360 flip over I-5 traffic”.

Others call it a barrel roll. Make all the Star Fox jokes you want.

For us at 131 Off-Road, a car kickflipping-slash-heelflipping-barrel rolling-slash-doing the flippy thing isn’t quite an unknown phenomenon. That’s not to say it happens on the regular, of course. Plenty of racers across a multitude of disciplines from short course to rallies have gone up and over, but to do a proper roll and cleanly land on your wheels?

Adrian Cenni immediately comes to mind. We suppose it makes sense for the driver with a nickname like “Wildman”.

On November 14, 2013, during contingency for the Baja 1000, Cenni became the first person to complete a 360-degree barrel roll in a four-wheel automobile when he achieved the feat in his Pro 4 truck. He spent two years preparing for the stunt.

A ramp was built underneath the overpass in Ensenada Wash. Cenni built up the prerequisite speed before hitting it, then rotating clockwise. The Pro 4 did a full 360° before landing on its wheels.

“You’ve got to get the truck weightless just for that fraction of a second and then you can start the rotation,” he explained afterward. “It’s actually one jump into a second jump. That’s the key: it’s not just one jump, it’s two jumps. It’s two jumps that are going to get you around quicker.”

Yes, Cenni is aware of the Tesla flip too.

Cenni is coming off a fourth-place points finish in the 2026 Championship Off-Road Pro 4 standings. When he did his jump, he was competing in TORC and LOORRS; he even entered two rounds of the inaugural Stadium Super Trucks season.