Just about five years later, reality TV is apparently about to hit the South. Working off a tip from djl, I’ve uncovered this summer’s newest breakthrough hit “Racin’ For A Livin'”. Fifty or so drivers are on some sort of qualification run to make the cut of 12, then something else, then eventually one. That driver gets a spot in NASCAR’s minor leagues.

Now I’m not any more of a NASCAR fan (RFAL is, coincidentally not affiliated with NASCAR, per their website) than watching the occasional parts of the big races, and maybe the end of some others (when they inevitably wind up with a caution flag to bring the field back together for the last two laps), but I recognize many of the names. Some of the names associated with this show are surprisingly familiar, others… not so much. Hell, some of the names I thought died years ago.

Biggest surprise? That AJ Foyt (the one that actually knows how to drive) is on board as a “Driver Trainer/Special Counsel”. Looks like the old man has finally given up. Maybe the bees got to him. Maybe it’s just his way of keeping the boys close to him so they can’t damage the family name any more than they have in their annual 12-lap tour of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Larry Foyt is the host, AJ the Fourth is a “Guest Star”, and presumably comic relief as well.) Without any prior knowledge, I’m going to go ahead and call right now that at some point it will be revealed that the contestants are actually driving for AJ IV’s job, and that AJ the Original (who is actually AJ the Second, but who’s counting?) will take The Fourth behind the woodshed in the series finale, never to be heard from again.

(Not that AJ IV is doing all that badly for himself, mind you. Apparently his time spent in Indy made more of an impression than just on the wall outside Turn 2 at the Brickyard, as he’s dating occasional reporter Raygan Swan of the Indianapolis Star. Aside from the “five-head”, not a bad get for a mediocre driver.)

Fun side notes include the fact that while the website makes no mention (at least none I could find between the typos and poorly placed punctuation) of an air date or station, it does claim to be headed for “prime-time network and distributed out internationally”, which I’m guessing leaves NBC and Fox as the likely candidates, unless the term “network” is applied incredibly liberally.

Also, among the “major guest stars” the show claims is “Have You Met Tony?” favorite Greg Evigan. No word on whether or not the winner’s car will be sponsored by Klawicki’s Deli. I also learned, as I Googled away, is that Evigan has done pretty well for himself in the daughter department. No word on any custody disputes with Paul Reiser, however.