Forza Motorsport Showdown was a weekly television show on Speed Channel

SPEED Channel

Speed , is a cable and satellite television network broadcast to various parts of North America, but primarily the United States...

, produced by BCII, Inc. The show was a collaboration of Speed Channel and Microsoft Game Studios to present a live-action mini-series based on the new Forza Motorsport 2

Forza Motorsport 2

Forza Motorsport 2 is a racing video game developed by Turn 10 Studios for the Xbox 360 console. It is the second title in the Forza Motorsport series, and is the sequel to the original Forza Motorsport and is followed by Forza Motorsport 3 .The box art features a tuned Nissan 350Z...

 video game. The series was produced on location at Road Atlanta Speedway. The host was Lee Reherman

Lee Reherman

Lee Reherman is a former American football player but a current actor and television host.-Personal life:Reherman was born in Louisville, Kentucky. He played football at Cornell University and then played professionally with the Miami Dolphins...

, who is best known as "Hawk" on the television show, American Gladiators

American Gladiators

American Gladiators is an American competition television program that aired in syndication from September 1989 to May 1996. The series matched a cast of amateur athletes against each other, as well as against the show's own gladiators, in contests of strength and agility.The concept was created by...

.

Regular features

Each episode featured six amateur racers from diverse backgrounds racing at various competitive motorsports disciplines – drag racing, road racing, autocross and drifting – in a $100,000 winner-take-all format. Forza Motorsport Showdown was designed to be the ultimate test of high-performance driving and mechanical skills.

In addition, each week Turn 10 Studios aired exclusive footage and announcements of game features of the new Forza Motorsport 2.

Basis of the "Game"

These six amateur drivers competed head to head in the different races. The first one across the finish line won $100,000.

They had to get there in a street car they'd never driven, manned by a crew they'd never met. The different course types included:

• Atlanta Dragway At Commerce's Quarter Mile
• Road Atlanta's Autocross for Drifting
• Two Road Courses
• Lanier Speedway's Oval Track

The Racers and cars of Forza Motorsport Showdown

• Clarence Barnes
• Angela Cope
  Angela Cope
  Angela Christine Cope and Amber Nicole Cope are professional NASCAR drivers. They made NASCAR history on October 23, 2010 by being the first twins to compete in one of the top three series in NASCAR. That day they made their NASCAR debut in the Camping World Truck Series in Martinsville, VA. Amber...
  
  
• Clay Dale
• Car:
• Ken Gushi
  Ken Gushi
  is one of Japan's top competitors in the sport of drifting. Born in Okinawa, Japan, but raised in Los Angeles, he was taught by his father Tsukasa Gushi at the age of 13 with a Toyota AE86. Ken has become the youngest competitor in both the D1 Grand Prix of Japan and the Formula Drift Championships...
  
  
• Freddie Lewis Jr Left due to back injury
• Jace Meier
• Shawn Day replaced Freddie Lewis left due to bad performance
• James Gribbson replaced Shawn Day

Winner

Forza Motorsports Showdown was won by Angela Cope

Angela Cope

Angela Christine Cope and Amber Nicole Cope are professional NASCAR drivers. They made NASCAR history on October 23, 2010 by being the first twins to compete in one of the top three series in NASCAR. That day they made their NASCAR debut in the Camping World Truck Series in Martinsville, VA. Amber...

, who passed Clarence Barnes on the last lap of a 15-lap race at Road Atlanta

Road Atlanta

Road Atlanta is a 2.54-mile road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, USA. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur sports car and motorcycle races, racing and driving schools, corporate programs and testing for motorsports teams...

. Barnes gave up a sizeable lead, under the advice of his crew chief, by driving at reduced speed with the intent of saving gas.

External links

• Forza Motorsport Showdown