New TV reality series starts its engines Friday in Whitefish

Combine "Survivor" with street racing with the ultimate road trip, and you have the premise of Spike TV's newest reality series.

"Bullrun" pits 12 two-driver, one-vehicle teams in a 3,000-mile-plus rally across the country. The first leg of that journey begins Friday in Whitefish, and area residents are invited to participate as extras in the first show. The rally begins at 8:30 a.m. on the corner of Central Avenue and Railway Street, in front of the O'Shaughnessy Center.

"We wanted to start somewhere beautiful, picturesque," said Joel Rodgers, executive producer of Rocket Science Laboratories, the series' production company. Rocket Science's other reality shows include "Temptation Island" and "Joe Millionaire."

The new program is based on the actual Bullrun rally, in which high-end cars race to various destinations across the United States. Like the actual rally, the show's contestants don't know in advance where they're going each day. Unlike the real Bullrun, however, the vehicles aren't all luxury cars.

Information about the vehicles is a secret for now, said Sharon Levy, Spike TV's senior vice president of alternative programming. None of the contestants will find out what their opponents are driving until they line up Friday morning.

But the cars run the gamut, from American-made to exotic, she said, which means viewers will identify with and root for one of the teams.

"Everybody loves one of the cars," she said.

The winners will receive $200,000, a trophy and "definitive bragging rights."

"It will answer the age-old question: what car is better," Levy said. "We wanted to kind of settle the score."

The contestants are everyday people driving their own cars. The team with the slowest time will be eliminated each day; the last of the season's 10 episodes will feature a showdown between the last two or three teams.

But it's more than just a race. "Bullrun" is designed to test the contestants' driving skills and horsepower, and drivers will face some closed-course, "adrenaline-charged" challenges.

"There's no cone obstacle courses," Levy said. "There's no 'Who can get from point A to point B the fastest.' It's really about strategic thinking."

"There will be plenty of opportunities for them to use their cars and their brains," Rodgers said.

And because the vehicles span such a wide variety of styles and strengths, eventually there will be a challenge well-suited for each rig.

"You want to be in the rally long enough that you're hoping the episode comes up when you have the edge," Levy said.

Drivers are also responsible for their own repairs. The only requirement is that each vehicle make it across the finish line, she said, even if drivers have to push them there.

At the end of each day, contestants will face either elimination or brutal honesty from host Bill Goldberg.

"I have no problem demeaning team after team after team," he said. "They're going to be doing something stupid. I'm there to point it out."

Goldberg's "straightforward attitude" is part of what makes him the show's ideal host, Levy said.

"Bill's not filtered. He'll be telling contestants where they screwed up and what they did right," she said.

But he also has the know-how to back his bluntness, she said, which will earn viewers' respect. Goldberg's 23-car collection includes race cars, dragsters and muscle cars.

"Because we're a network for men, authenticity is important," Levy said.

"Bullrun" is Goldberg's second car program; he hosted "Automaniac" on The History Channel during summer 2005. He also has appeared in films, including "The Longest Yard," with Adam Sandler, and "Santa's Slay." Before his big-screen acting career, Goldberg played professional football and was a World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment heavyweight champion.

He says it's because he's a "huge car fanatic" that he's eager to do the show.

"I'm pretty well-known in the car world as the resident freak," he said.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.