Fast Cars & Superstars, June 14: The Infield, the Wall, and the Dreaded White Line

Tuesday on Fast Cars & Superstars, singer/songwriter Jewel became the first woman to advance to the Accuracy Challenge, joining boyfriend Ty Murray. WWE champion John Cena also advanced, while former NBA star John Salley got back in his Lincoln Town Car and went home Tonight, it’s time for the final Time Trials!

Kenny Mayne begins his voiceover. Wait, no opening montage? Jewel trash talks the guys. The Gillette Young Guns are here too! The challenges are escalating challenges. There’s a lot of competitiveness. We’re here to separate the fearful from the fearless. Under the lights at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, 12 celebrities, six Gillette Young Guns, three escalating rounds of competition, two worlds colliding, and one winner! It’s time for Fast Cars & Superstars!

Brad joins Kenny and reminds us what happened last time. You already read about it so go get some popcorn or something. The crowd is cheering behind them. Tonight’s celebs are introduced, but you already know who they are. Training them is Young Guns driver and 2002 Rookie of the Year Ryan Newman.

Kenny and Brad welcome Ryan. Kenny says Bill Cowher has a mustache and a big jaw and asks if he’s intimidating. Ryan replies that he’s actually teaching him how to drive a stick-shift car so it’s a unique experience for him. Kenny says it will be unique for all of us and wishes Ryan luck.

Brad reminds us of the format of the show—Time Trials, Accuracy Challenge, and Finals. The celebs have been broken into groups of three for the Time Trials. Tonight’s group is Gabrielle Reece, Bill Cowher, and William Shatner, in case you haven’t been paying attention. They’re hoping to join John Elway, Laird Hamilton, Ty Murray, Tony Hawk, Jewel, and John Cena in round two, the Accuracy Challenge.

Model and volleyball superstar Gabby gets her last-minute instructions from Ryan as she waits to start her Time Trial. Kenny says things were crazy during her practice session, which we see as Ryan leads her around for her warm-up laps. Driving instructor Corey LaCosta talks to Gabby, Bill, and William. He calls Lowe’s Motor Speedway “the Mecca of motorsports.” Ryan drives Gabby around the track, and she tells him he makes it look so easy.

Gabby climbs into her own car and gets up too close to the wall. She skids across the grass—quite a few times—and manages to bring her car to a dead stop before hitting the wall. There’s a lot of smoke but she gets the car going again as William asks if that will put a little fear in her.

We’re about to find out, as Ryan leads her to the green flag. Husband Laird and daughter Reece watch. Right away Gabby’s up over 140 mph but she’s not drafting very well. She drops down into the 120 mph range and by the end of lap one her average is 131.07 mph. Not great but not bad, especially after what Brad calls her “big loop across the infield” earlier in the day.

On lap two she tightens up the distance between her and Ryan and climbs up over 145 mph for a bit. She slows down in the turns but completes lap two with an average speed of 134.19 mph. Laird watches and seems to approve as Gabby climbs up over 150 mph. She takes the checkered flag and her final lap average is 137.58 mph. She finishes her Time Trial in 2:00:69. Not bad at all, and since Bill just learned how to drive a stick, she has a real shot at advancing along with her husband. She knows she was off her best pace, and climbs out of the car to the applause of her adorable daughter.

Super Bowl-winning head coach Bill is strapped into his car as Ryan tells him to run wide open on the straightaways and coast a bit through the corners. Bill’s ready. As they begin their warm-up laps, Kenny tells us that what Bill did in practice made what Gabby did in practice look like child’s play. Uh oh.

In practice, Bill climbs out of his car as Corey asks him how he is. He says he’s fine and asks how the car is. Another instructor tells him not to look. Bill tells us that he had “a couple of circumstances” during practice that have led to him having to build his confidence back up. He tells Gabby that he came around turn three and felt low and as he came around turn four his car kept drifting on him.