The Great Food Truck Race facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Great Food Truck Race |
|
|---|---|
| Genre | Cooking Reality |
| Presented by | Tyler Florence |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 15 |
| No. of episodes | 95 (list of episodes) |
| Production company(s) | Critical Content |
| Release | |
| Original network | Food Network |
The Great Food Truck Race is a super fun reality television show about cooking! It first started on August 15, 2010, on the Food Network. The host is Tyler Florence. Imagine a race across the United States, but instead of cars, it's food trucks! Teams of three people drive their food trucks, stopping in different cities each week to sell their yummy food.
The newest season, the fifteenth one, began on June 5, 2022.
Contents
How the Food Truck Race Works
Every season, between six and nine teams compete in this exciting race. They cook, sell food, and face many challenges. Their big goal is to win $50,000! Sometimes, they even get to keep their very own food truck.
The Weekly Challenge
The teams travel through a specific part of the country. Each week, the food truck that earns the least money is eliminated. The other teams then move on to the next city.
At the start of each episode, teams get "seed money." This is money they use to buy groceries. They also get different challenges every week. These challenges can help them earn more money. For example, they might need to sell the most of a special dish. Or, they might create a local food for Tyler and a guest judge.
Sometimes, the show throws in tricky obstacles. These make it harder for teams to sell food normally. For instance, they might have to switch their whole menu to vegan food. Or, they might not be able to buy more supplies for the day.
Who Competes and What They Win
In the first two seasons, the people competing were already professional food truck owners. They were racing for a cash prize. The first season offered $50,000, and the second offered $100,000.
In later seasons (except for season six), the show gave food trucks to new people. These were folks who dreamed of owning their own food truck. They could be home cooks or even former restaurant owners. In seasons three, four, and five, the winning team got the money and kept the food truck the show gave them. From season six onwards, the winners only received the $50,000 prize money.
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Season premiere | Season finale |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | August 15, 2010 | September 19, 2010 |
| 2 | 7 | August 14, 2011 | September 25, 2011 |
| 3 | 7 | August 19, 2012 | September 30, 2012 |
| 4 | 7 | August 18, 2013 | September 29, 2013 |
| 5 | 7 | August 17, 2014 | September 28, 2014 |
| 6 | 6 | August 23, 2015 | September 27, 2015 |
| 7 | 5 | August 28, 2016 | September 25, 2016 |
| 8 | 6 | August 20, 2017 | September 24, 2017 |
| 9 | 6 | July 26, 2018 | August 30, 2018 |
| 10 | 8 | June 9, 2019 | July 28, 2019 |
| 11 | 4 | November 27, 2019 | December 18, 2019 |
| 12 | 6 | March 19, 2020 | April 23, 2020 |
| 13 | 6 | March 7, 2021 | April 11, 2021 |
| 14 | 6 | June 7, 2021 | July 18, 2021 |
| 15 | 8 | June 5, 2022 | July 24, 2022 |
Behind the Scenes: How the Show Started
Bob Tuschman, who was in charge of the Food Network, heard many ideas for a food truck competition show. He finally chose the idea that became The Great Food Truck Race. He thought it was perfect because it mixed a "Survivor"-style reality show with the growing popularity of food trucks.
Tyler Florence, the host, was excited about the show right away. As the show became more popular and got new seasons, the food truck scene also grew. Tyler Florence believes the food truck trend became big partly because of money problems in the early 2000s. He even said his show "helped invent an entirely new genre of restaurants."
