Bullrun (TV series)

Bullrun is an American reality television series based on the trans-American Bullrun road rally of the same name. The televised version has 12 teams compete in a 4,000-mile (6,400 km) 18-day road rally to win the grand prize of US$200,000. "Bullrun" uses a modified 12-car rally format.
Season 1.
Season 1 of "Bullrun" premiered on Spike on March 13, 2007. The season was hosted by former professional wrestler Bill Goldberg.
Objective.
Each day of competition contained three distinct stages - Leg 1, Heads-Up Challenge, Leg 2.
Each team begins the day by choosing whether to follow "My Way" or "The Highway" (both of these terms explained below under "Routes"). In the first leg, the teams must reach a checkpoint in the fastest time. However, if a team is caught speeding, that team receives a five-minute penalty.
After all the teams complete the first leg of the race, the teams with the fastest times choose a lower pair of teams to compete heads-up in a challenge, in which the winning team will gain the faster time of the first leg between the two.
Finally, the teams compete in a way similar to the first leg, but a time bonus may be added midway on the routes, depending on the length of the second leg.
After all the teams complete leg two, the times for both legs (including time bonuses and speeding penalties) are combined. The team with the longest time to complete both legs is then returned the keys to their vehicle, in which they must immediately leave.
Routes.
Before races begin, the teams have two options on how to get to their destination: "My Way" or "The Highway". "The Highway" is the route the producers of the show have chosen for the day's race. It is generally easier, but may take longer to complete. The second option is "My Way". The only rule of these two options is that once a team chooses "My Way or The Highway", it must stick to it until the end of the second leg of the day.
"Example: If a team chooses "The Highway" for leg 1, they would have to select "The Highway" for leg 2 as well. Those that choose "My Way" must avoid "The Highway" route."
On Days 5 and 6, all routes were "My Way" due to short legs.
Teams.
The races on Bullrun are competed by 12 teams composed of 2 people (driver/navigator). The teams on Bullrun are:
Winner.
The winning team was Team Trans Am, taking home the $200,000 grand prize ($ today). The father/daughter duo of driver Morgan Alsop and her navigator dad Mike Alsop from Lafayette, Indiana pushed hard throughout the entire rally to always place near the top of the leader board. Morgan Alsop's impressive driving and Mike Alsop's ability to find the shortest route and time bonuses lead them to dominate most of the race. Mike also drove the car for a few Challenges. Morgan Alsop was the only woman in the race after Team Scion's elimination in Stage 1. They defeated Team Olds by almost 9 minutes.
Time bonus cards.
In the second leg of a day's race, the teams are given a choice to pick up a time bonus card. If a team chooses to attain one of these cards, then they not only have to take a path longer than the highway path but risk having the other teams empty the card supply before they get there. Also, the teams do not know either the value of these cards or how many there are until they get one.
Team Trans Am successfully pursued a time bonus card in 6 of the 9 episodes where a card was available. Team Olds were next, with 3 time bonus cards, but they were also unsuccessful in 2 other episodes where they choose the longer trip in pursuit of a time bonus card.
Show cars.
The official pace car was a Noble M12 GTO with a top speed of about 185 mph (298 km/h), and the challenge demonstration car was an SSC Standard Aero with a 0-60 mph (0–97 km/h) time of 2.78 seconds.
Season 2.
Season 2 casting was held in 2007 and 2008, and the show was filmed in December 2008, with the first episode airing on Speed Channel on February 19, 2009. The series continues to be hosted by Bill Goldberg.
Winner and runners-up.
The winning team for Season 2 was Team Shelby, taking the grand prize of $200,000 ($ today). The friends and former brothers in law from Chicago, Illinois, Mike Lahalih and Spiro Tsaparas were one of the more consistent teams in the rally. Although they were unable to finish first in any of driving legs except for the last, their navigating was still good enough to avoid most of the challenges by finishing mid-pack, which allowed them to effectively fly under the radar. When they were forced into the challenges, the combination of their 725 hp Shelby Super Snake and Spiro's impressive driving (Mike drove during the driving legs and Spiro drove in the challenges) made them one of the most formidable cars in the rally.
Team Avalanche was the 1st runner-up for Season 2. The friends from Auburn, Alabama, Barry "Bear" Brown II and Matt McManus showed impressive driving skill in an incredible six challenges, often beating cars that were much smaller, lighter and faster than their full-size pickup truck, but ultimately their inconsistent navigating kept them from the championship.
Team Corvette was the 2nd runner-up for Season 2. The friends from California, Elvis Strange and Steve McCabe showed impressive navigating skills throughout the rally, finishing well in most of the episodes including finishing 1st in the driving leg an incredible 3 times in a row and the first leg of the final day. Ultimately their poor challenge performance on the final day (allowing the other two teams to reduce the time gap from the first driving leg) and finishing 3rd in the final driving leg led to their 3rd place overall finish.
Elimination Challenges.
For Season 2, teams are eliminated through a Challenge Event, with a time bonus challenge for the final episode.
Show cars.
The challenge demonstration car was a 1 of 1 "Bullrun Edition" Shelby Mustang.
Season 3.
Season 3 started on February 18, 2010. A $200,000 prize ($ today) was awarded to the team that wins a 20-day, 4,000 mile rally.
Rule Changes vs Season 2.
This season will consistently use two checkpoints and a final destination for the driving legs, followed by the same elimination challenge system as Season 2.
A new rule was added. There was a single immunity token (a gold wrench) available on each of the first seven days. The token is at a location well beyond the final checkpoint, so that a team's decision to pursue the immunity implies that they will not finish first for the day. Whichever team gets it first has immunity from the elimination challenge. The immunity was removed on the eighth day, once there were only four teams 'eligible' for the 3-way challenge.
Teams.
Season 3's cars include (by elimination, and car number until competition is complete):
Winner and runners-up.
The winning team for Season 3, earning the $200,000 prize ($ today), was Team Lambo. The brothers from San Diego, California, Allen and Bill Wu, were one of the more consistent teams in the rally. They captured 5 of the 7 immunity tokens available during the race, and finished first to fully avoid the challenge on another day. Part of their strategy included moving Bullrun signs to confuse other teams, issuing fake Immunity Cards, and turning various disadvantages into advantages - like being pulled over by police for a thorough search, then getting the police to give them a private escort through the local community.
Team NSX was the 1st runner-up for Season 3, finishing just 5 minutes behind Team Lambo on the final day of competition. The ex-military friends from Mandan, North Dakota, Ryan Morris and Nic Cruz, finished first on two of the competition days - including the crucial ninth day, thus ensuring their presence in the final group of three in the competition.
Team Hemi-Cuda was the 2nd runner-up for Season 3. The father-daughter team from Rolla, Missouri, Mark and Julia Janos, had to compete in 6 elimination challenges during the rally, using the combination of drivers' skill and horsepower to avoid elimination. A miscue on the final day held them up in a major traffic jam between Alameda and San Francisco. The time lost there, coupled with the time bonuses that teams NSX and Lambo earned in the final challenge, cause Team Hemi-Cuda to finish a full hour and two minutes behind Team Lambo, earning the 3rd place overall finish.
Elimination Challenges.
As in Season 2, teams are eliminated through a Challenge Event, with a time bonus challenge in the final episode.
Show Cars.
The challenge demonstration car was a 1 of 1 "Bullrun Edition" Shelby Mustang.
Production.
"Bullrun" was produced by Bullrun Productions, Maloof Television and Rocket Science Laboratories.
Season One was produced for Spike.
Season Two was produced by Bullrun Productions for Speed Channel, with original airings from February through April 2009. Bullrun founders David Green and Andrew Duncan executive produced the show. Grace Stevens was the supervising producer.
Season Three was produced by Bullrun Productions for Speed Channel, with original airings from February through April 2010.