Dean Crooke: The Benchmark Every Newcomer Is Measured Against

There's a particular value in a driver like Dean Crooke that doesn't always show up in the championship standings. He's been in every ADC race since the AASA era began. He knows the Hyper Racer X1 as well as anyone on the planet — he should, given his father Jon founded the company. And he's consistently fast enough that when a newcomer wants to know where they stand, the answer is: "What are you doing relative to Crooke?"

In the 2024 inaugural ADC season, Crooke was the race winner when Sterling was off the pace, the man who won the first four races of that final round. He was the reference point from which Sterling's remarkable form was measured. In 2025, the story was the same — Crooke was almost always there, finishing in the top four, collecting points, pushing whoever was in front of him to maintain their pace.

He's not the champion, and he'll tell you that honestly. But without Dean Crooke, the ADC would be a different championship. He is the thread that connects every season, the fixed point against which the development of a new car and a new series is measured.

His role within the Hyper Racer team also means he's more than just a driver. Setup data from Crooke's car feeds back into the car's development. New competitors often come to Crooke for advice. His institutional knowledge of the X1 — its quirks, its strengths, its limits — is genuinely irreplaceable.

For 2026, the question isn't whether Crooke will be fast. It's whether the new generation of challengers will finally surpass him. History suggests they'll have a fight on their hands.