And then there were 3.

We’re down to the last episode and this has been one hell of a journey. 12 teams started 9 weeks ago with 4,000 miles ahead of them and 200 grand up for grabs. They fought, broke down, got back on the road, and now they’re very, very close to the moment of truth.

Prior to this episode to stay in the competition you had to make sure you didn’t come last and you could hang in there for another episode but now it’s different – with 3 teams left you’ve got to make sure you WIN to take the 200 grand. The form book goes out of the window now. Anything can happen.

As they set off on the first leg, it’s tense in the cars. And once again, the winner of the first leg gets to put the other two teams in a challenge.


It's tense in the cars

The Olds brothers take a risk and go to get their brakes bled. They know it’s going to cost them time but they’re gambling they can hand that time to whoever they meet in the challenge.

Meanwhile, the Trans Am and F150 get to the track first, and have to play the waiting game. Jason from F150 is pissed and comes out with a couple of classic quotes. “They could get lost in a paper sack” and “They needed to spend more time in the classroom rather than the tanning bay.” When Team Olds finally arrives, the time difference is over 2 hours… someone could be screwed, and there are no more time bonuses.

For the Bullrun Relay challenge, the cars are equally matched. On paper, the Olds should outperform the F150, but the guys still have limited brakes. This is making the guys really nervous. Both teams do really well, but Richard smokes the hell out of the Olds on the second leg of the really -- the F150 is stuck with the nightmare 2 hour time delay!


Richard smokes the hell out of the Olds on the second leg

It’s harsh on the F150 but that’s the way it goes, The Olds brothers have taken their chances, played by the rules and come out smiling.

The Olds has a full tank and the Trans Am needs to stop for gas… the F150 has found a cross country dirt road that’s saving a ton of time. When the F150 checks in with Team Trans Am, Mike and Morgan start getting nervous. But into Calexico it’s clear the F150 hasn’t been able to make up the time. Now it’s between the Olds and the Trans Am.

And… Team Trans Am wins it all.


Team Trans Am takes it out!

What a great performance from a high pressure team who have set the standard for much of the event. Mike doing donuts with his hands out of the car tell it all… the guy is happy!!!!


Smoke em up Mike!

Series II, here we come! Who’s next?

Only two episodes are left now, so the pressure is really on. These teams have been on the road for weeks and no one wants to go home without the $200,000 prize.

This show really has been a test of character. The Olds Brothers have not made ANY friends on the rally, but they’re from Queens, baby, and they don’t care! Morgan has gone from a sweet, butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-my-mouth girl from Indiana to an anti-law-enforcement-crazed racer. She tells her Dad, “You yell at me again and I’m going into bitch mode.” Fantastic! Everyone one wants to win.

The Trans Am is first into the checkpoint so all the others are automatically in the Garage Challenge: F150 vs. Charger vs. Olds. The F150 boys make a respectable run… Jason can really drive the hell out of that beast. Team Charger‘s pumped, but they stall… get going again… and stall again. The altitude is affecting the car. It’s painful to watch and their time is over 3 minutes… disaster!


Trans Am finishes in first


Team Charger's pumped but they stall

Trans Am and F150 are happy to give the Charger boys a second chance at the challenge. But the Olds boys have to give their permission or else there’s the Charger’s stuck with their poor challenge time.

Suddenly everyone’s concerned about the Olds team, helping them out with their car, all to give the Charger another shot. Do the brothers fall for it? Hell no! Call it karma, kismet or just plain old payback… the Olds brothers STICK IT to the Charger boys!!! Andre says, “My mother told me don’t ever spit in the air… cause you never know where it will land.”


The Olds brothers stick it to to the Chargerboys!!!

In the next leg, it gets dirty. HOW CLOSE IS THIS GOING TO BE!?! Mike tells the brothers there’s only one Time Bonus and he’s got it. The Olds brothers may not be good navigators but they’re from NYC and they know bullshit when they hear it. Both the Charger and the Olds go for the Time Bonus and miss out — cause Team Trans Am snagged the only one. The Olds is low on gas and the Charger goes the wrong way. It’s unbelievable! The Olds literally runs out of gas and the brothers have to push it over the line.

On the leader-board, less than 3 minutes separate the Olds and the Charger.

The Charger is out. The Olds is in.


The Charger is out!

They’ve been called the Mario brothers, Dumb and Dumber, Chachi and The Fonz, you name it. But the boys in the Olds are still standing and they’re in it to win it.

Three teams fighting for $200,000 now. Past performance is irrelevant, one mistake and you’re out… who’s going to win?

The official winner of The Ticket to Ride contest is the replica GTO. It was SO tough to decide in the end there is such a great collection and wide variety of cars that we drew out of the hat. Mr. and Mr's GTO, welcome to Bullrun….Start Your Engine!


Click here for more about the winner

We wake up in Monument Valley for the start of episode 8. This is such an amazing place — we spent the night in the RV rather than the hotel so we could watch the sunrise over Monument Valley. Truly spectacular, I recommend it!

So we’re down to 5 teams now… and this week if you’re not first into the challenge checkpoint you’re definitely in the challenge so it’s gonna get interesting!

The Charger boys start off the day with a nightmare: car trouble. But Mike saves the day and gets it fixed in 7 minutes.


Car trouble for the Charger

The boys in the Lotus come up with their ‘Poison Arrow’ strategy. They know they’ll be in a challenge if they don’t come in first so they decide to come in last. They’re confident they can win any challenge and give their poor time to their competitor. It will effectively be a death sentence… Great strategy and guts!!!

The Charger boys miraculously work their way through the field to get to the checkpoint first… great driving! So they put the F150 vs the Trans AM, and the Olds vs the Lotus. The Olds brothers are super pissed and swear vengeance! The Charger boys better hope the Olds is eliminated tonight as they will do anything the screw the Charger boys over now.

The ‘Bull in a Ring’ challenge is a tricky precision driving test and the Olds gets totally out-driven by the Lotus. Now the Olds is stuck now at the back of the pack with 25 minutes to make up. It’s not impossible to crawl back up the grid, but it’s gonna be tough.


The ‘Bull in a Ring’ challenge is a tricky one


The Lotus totally out drives The Olds

On the next leg, Team Lotus feels they’re ahead of the pack, so they skip the time bonus. They’re back to their normal, ‘lets argue until we drop’ routine in the car, getting lost, asking directions. They’re low on fuel and need gas — the pendulum has swung the other way and they’re feeling the heat!

The Trans Am and the Olds brothers get the only two bonuses, and they’re worth ONE HOUR each. The Olds boys are right back in it!

Meanwhile the Trans Am and the Olds both get pulled over by the police again. Morgan voices her opinions on the po-po again… not sure I want to be in a car with her with police around.


Pulled over by the police

So everyone finally gets into the checkpoint at Flagstaff and it’s close… really close. There’s real animosity now between the Charger and the Olds, Jim from the Charger even tells Andre, “Your ass is going home!” It’s down to the Lotus and the Olds — and, unbelievably, the Lotus goes out!!!! The Lotus getting lost and not going for the time bonus gave the Olds boys a chink of light and they took their chance.

Watch out Charger!

Welcome to Bullrun Episode 7 sports fans! So the Mexicans went home and it’s a blow to the whole set. Everyone loved those guys and they had a great attitude. But that’s the way it works… it was so close between them and the Dodge Charger.

We had a day off the day before so I went to SEMA to see our friend Claus at his CEC Wheels party and to go to the Scion party. Flew in at 7pm, out at 5am. No sleep, partying all night, and back to Bullrun for a full day of filming! Salt Lake City to Moab, Utah. Night drive baby!!!

F150 and the Lotus are now in an all-out war now. They want each other out so badly! Lots of dad/daughter tension in the Trans Am. Mike even tells Morgan to grow some balls!! To add to the tension, they get pulled over by the Po-Po… for having their full lights on!! They get lucky and get away quickly although Morgan is ready to take the Police head on. The Utah police are not popular.


Pulled over by the police

Team Lotus comes up with a great bit of strategy: post a really, really slow time on an upcoming leg of the rally so when they beat someone in a challenge the time they swap over is literally a death sentence… the money is getting closer now and everyone has their eye on it.

The Careening Cargo challenge is tricky, having to stay at a decent speed within the moving rope zone AND avoid those boxes, not easy. Add into this the fact they’ve all had to drive through the night, every second counts and, oh yeah, there’s 200 grand on the line. We’re wearing them right down to the bare bones. The Charger boys win out against the F150, and the Lotus just cannot be beaten.


The Careening Cargo challenge is tricky


The Lotus just cannot be beaten!

Strategy is becoming SO important. You have to be smart to win this rally. Mike and Morgan get an extra gas can and fill it up. It’s obvious the Honda guys will have to go for a time bonus to make up time, but because no one knows how much they’re worth (or how many there are) it’s a major decision now.

Meanwhile, the Olds and the Charger find themselves on a road we were terrified to drive on during the day when we scouted the show. The road is super steep, rocky as hell, and the drop to the right is thousands of feet… with no guard rail anywhere. These guys are seriously crapping themselves but they make it through.

Just 24 minutes separate 1st and 6th place, with the 7th place team way behind a further 19 minutes. It’s between the Lotus and Honda… and the Honda goes out. They already got bailed out once by Team BMW’s forfeit, but they lost out on today’s challenge and didn’t go for a time bonus. They had the chances, but they’re going home.


Team Honda leaves the Bullrun Rally for good

Bullrun Ticket to Drive Finalist #6

It was tough between the Pacer and the Soarer but confirmed with David and
the Lexus wins it.

The winner this week is that amazing Soarer. Some great mods done to this
car and what a great car to represent the import fans and take on the muscle
of the USA and the exotics of Europe.


Click here for more about the car

Elko last night was a return to seriously freezing temperatures -- about 4 degrees -- and everyone’s still in shock from the departure of the BMW boys. It isn't much warmer this morning as we get ready for the next leg to Wendover.

The Lotus boys are tailing the F150 and the Honda and bugging the shit of them. This week, though, the F150 boys have had enough and record the Lotus speeding with a digital camera. Now, are they unfairly ratting out the competition or are they just fiercely competitive? You decide.


F150 noticing Lotuc as they speed past

The Salt Flats are amazing! Feels like you're on the moon! We stopped by here on the real Bullrun rally in 2005 and Hayden Christensen drag-raced Dennis Rodman -- both in Lambos. Hayden was winning and then spun out at 180 mph! Then we had about 30 cars drag race all at once across the flats -- great fun!!!


The scenery is amazing

There’s still ONLY 14 minutes between 1st and last. This is tight. Then comes the twist: the F150 team tells Goldberg about the Lotus and Honda speeding and show him their footage. Lotus and Honda get stuck with a five-minute penalty each. They go to the bottom of the leaderboard.

First up at the checkpoint challenge it's Charger vs. Chevy. The Charger edges out the Chevy but only just -- Cesar drives like a demon. The Charger comes in at 14.8 seconds vs. 15.4 seconds for the Chevy.


Chevy trying its best

It's a great grudge match in the 2nd challenge, the Lotus up against the F150!!! The Lotus posts a super-quick time of 11.4 seconds, stopping just before the wall. The F150 decides to smash through the wall at full speed to beat the Lotus. The irony is that the F150 sent the Lotus to the bottom with a time penalty, but then loses the challenge and gets stuck with the extra time the Lotus got penalized with! Team F150 also screws up their truck in the process! The headlights and the grill are gone.


Team F150 goes straight through the wall!

We get into Salt Lake City that night. It's been a long week and it's Halloween in Salt Lake City. We take the whole crew and cast out for beers and turn up at the only bar in Salt Lake that doesn’t know it’s Halloween. 200 of us and one barman. We end up jumping behind the bar and serving beers ourselves. A great night to let off some steam!

It's also time for the City of Mormons to meet some Bullrun aggression. It's open war now between Teams F150, Honda, and Lotus. Brian confronts Jason in the Bullrun tent and all hell breaks loose.

The time spread at elimination is 16 minutes between first and last and, in last place, Team Chevy goes out. If Cesar hadn't gone to the bathroom at the gas station the Chevy boys would have finished in the top two and the Charger would have been eliminated. That was one expensive bathroom break, and that alliance is over.

Bullrun Ticket to Drive Finalist #5

DeLorean wins.

A tough week! Very different cars lined up for the final but the winner this week is the DeLorean. I’m no fan of Back to the Future but this a real iconic car of the 80s. David and I are both fans of this car. First off, what a great mod job has been done to this car, making it cool for today but not a departure from the original styling. Secondly the guy who built these back in the 80s (allegedly) took a millions of dollars from Mrs Thatchers’ British government in subsidies to build this car in the UK, stopped production, went back to the USA and they then tried to put him in jail for it…they failed! Great story, great car.


Click here for more about the car

So, episode 5 eh? No highway today, everyone must go My Way to the
checkpoint in Winnemucca which is easy, the 80 all the way. Obviously the
getting lost record is held by Team Chevy; it takes them all of 30 seconds
to f**k up getting out of Reno.


Asking for directions...again

Because there are fewer teams now, strategy is essential - it will be
interesting to see who sticks blindly to relationships. Team Trans Am
has worked out their strategy: mess with anyone who gets in their way.

No one seems to be worried about the Honda boys who won both legs in the
previous episode, though Paris is annoying the hell out of everyone. Dirty
Rice pretends to sleep in the car to avoid arguments!

A bunch of the teams miss the turn for Winnemucca airport exit...got to keep focused guys!!!

In the challenge at the airstrip the teams are matched up - BMW vs Honda and Trans Am vs Lotus -- the Charger boys want Mike to drive the balls off the TA and Mike thinks it’s going to be “cake.” Again, this is a reasonably
straightforward test for the cars, but the pressure is starting to show. The
Lotus boys nail the challenge but Mike makes two passes at the challenge and misses. Morgan is humiliated.


Lotus rocks it in a super time!

Next up, Dirty Rice in the Honda rocks it. The BMW is next up Chuck is
obviously torn up about his uncle’s death but JR wants to push on. The
pressure gets to them; JR gets it all wrong and drives the front of the car
through the glass.


OUCH! There goes the front end

It just keeps getting worse for the BMW boys as they have a screaming match at each other after the challenge AND in front of all the other drivers.

It’s off to Elko, Nevada for the next leg. EVERYONE is concerned about their positions on the leaderboard it’s crazy, there’s only about a 13-minute spread between first and last.

You’ve got to be on your toes at all times. The Trans Am suddenly loses
it’s transmission line. By the side of the road, in the cold and dark Mike
becomes a legend and fixes it but gets transmission fluid in his eye in the process.
He makes up for that challenge failure earlier in the day and saves their place in the rally!

The teams know what’s at stake, they’re very close and everyone is edgy
heading into the finish. Dirty gives Paris the “come to Jesus” / “no one
likes you” speech thinking they’re definitely out of the rally.
Unsurprisingly, Paris doesn’t take it well. It’s not looking when they get
into the finish - the top 3 teams are the ones with the Time Bonuses.


Dirty gives Paris the "no one likes you" speech

The bottom slot is Team Honda but they get a miracle. Chuck from Team BMW has had to go home to be with his family because of the death of his uncle and JR decides to leave too and concedes his place to Team Honda, it’s a really moving moment and even Paris sheds a tear...

The Noble we were driving is officially dead, thanks to David. So we’re stuck in an RV for hours of painful conversation with the other executives from the show, stuffing our faces with beef jerky and nachos. The Honda boys, Dirty Rice and Paris, have a huge hometown advantage in the first leg from Vallejo to Alameda and come in first. Everyone else gets confused driving through downtown San Francisco. Team F150 has the good sense just to stay on Dirty’s tail, which lands them the second place spot. Bullrun wears you down, and it’s no surprised that patience is running thin on all fronts. Dirty Rice doesn’t bother responding to the Olds boys when they call for help. And Team Charger aggressively overtakes the Lambo and the Olds just outside of the Naval base. Just because Team Olds and Team Charger are both from Queens doesn’t mean they like one another. Andre is clearly p*issed and wants the Charger boys gone. Tensions are high between team members as well, that tiny Lotus just isn’t big enough for Danny and Brian.

Meanwhile the Mexicans can’t navigate their way out of a paper bag! Even with a GPS and the help of an adult I’m not sure they could. Ralphie knows most of the people in the San Francisco by now, he’s asked them all for directions. Last again into the checkpoint… The challenge is Hot Pursuit, which isn’t as easy as it looks; Cesar almost dies of shock when the first explosion goes off. (And to think that we originally planned to have a helicopter dragging the targets!) It’s the BMW vs. Mexicans (weird choice from Team Honda) and, no surprise, Team F150 puts the Lotus against the Lambo. Jason and Jake can’t wait to push the Lambo over the edge and any damage to the Lotus is an added bonus.

Cesar almost dies of shock when the first explosion goes off!

It's HOT pursuit!

Team BMW nails it—and they prove themselves for the first time. They think they blew the motor doing celebratory donuts afterwards but the car is just smarter than both of them and knows when to switch off because it overheated. Lotus kills it. 47 seconds…Goddamn! The Lambo pulls out of the challenge completely and Jeff is seriously p*ssed that he keeps getting put in challenges and he forfeits to avoid any further damage. (You can buy his car on Ebay right now, by the way. In case buying a f**ked up Lambo with a hideous paint job has been your lifelong dream.) Out of the checkpoint and heading into Reno, the Lambo boys are worried what their country club friends will say if they don’t win the leg but it’s clear that the clutch is a serious problem. They may have the most expensive car but American Muscle is kicking their ass. Sure enough they pull in on a flat bed: ELIMINATED. Once again, Ralph and Cesar, the worst navigators in the history of driving, are saved by another car’s failure.

...out of the checkpoint and heading into Reno

Jeff from Team Lambo goes out after we wrap shooting and gets a monster Bullrun shield tattooed on his back. Check it out in the behind the scenes segment. Crazy sh*t.

Jeff from team Lambo's crazy Bullrun shield!

Bullrun Ticket to Drive Finalist #3

This week’s winner is the Ferrari 250 GTO project car. The original GTOs are tremendous Grand Tourers and the spirit of grand touring is what Bullrun is all about. This project is a great homage to the GTO. Authentic models of this car (39 made I think) we're trading at $2 million bucks back in the 80s and these days you're looking at $15 million dollars to have one of these in your stable. This is a great car that Ferrari got right - a really beautiful car but also the model competed well on the track.



Click here for more about the car

Bullrun Ticket to Drive Finalist #2

Another great variety of cars to pick from this week and some tough choices!
I've had to remind myself this isn't about the best car restoration project in my selections as it's easy to be overawed by the success of these car projects. It's about which car is a Bullrun car and Bullrun is an attitude to automotive lifestyle. With this in mind we've picked the Saleen Mustang.
It’s a great American car with presence and pedigree and we have always been impressed with the way it looks and handles.

Click here for more about the car