A Road-Racing Jeep?

How two Washington racers turned a $200 XJ into a Beamer-beater

- Eric Rood

On a drizzly January after noon in Monterey, California, Team Petty Cash’s boxy ’89

Jeep Cherokee XJ crests the hill at the Corkscrew, the unmistakable turn at the top of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. If the driver wasn’t focused on positioning the Jeep to perfectly slingshot down the 10-story drop from the top of the famed racetrack through the twisting curves, he could just catch a glimpse north of the storms in the next valley over. Instead, the Jeep negotiates the Corkscrew and subsequent Rainey Curve with less drama than the score of Mazda Miatas and BMW 3-Series it competes with in the Lucky Dog Racing League. So how have Team Petty Cash taken a two-wheel-drive XJ and made it a competitive dirt-cheap road racer?