"Rapid Turnover" a triathlon for ATV and motorcycle enthusiasts (Iowa) July 8th, 2007

Saturday, July 7, 2007
By JIM NELSON, Courier Sports Writer

INDEPENDENCE -- Rich Christensen doesn't mind swinging for the fences and missing.

It's kind of the premise for his new show, "Launch Hour," on Speed Channel.

The New Hampton native and creator of the hit show "Pinks" is bringing Launch Hour to the Independence Motor Speedway Sunday in the form of "Rapid Turnover," a triathlon of sorts for ATV and motorcycle enthusiasts.

Christensen and his crew are set to film five half-hour pilot episodes of "Rapid Turnover" beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday.

"It could be fantastic or my worst nightmare, but you don't know it until you come out and try it," said Christensen.

"Rapid Turnover" is part of "Launch Hour," a program where Christensen creates a brand new show and gives viewers and fans the opportunity to decide if each show is worthy of its own series.

Christensen has come up with 11 different concepts and is in the process of filming each of them. Launch Hour will premier July 15 on the Speed Channel at 9 p.m. with Blow it Up and Name that Test and Tune.

"Creators will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce a pilot for a new show in Hollywood," said Christensen. "We're spending a few thousand so we can present a lot of different ideas to the Speed viewers, and they will be the incubators for shows that could make the prime-time schedule."

Rapid Turnover will feature individual drivers competing in three different disciplines of racing -- on motorcycles, on ATVs and on foot -- in what Christensen bills as a sprint medley.

Ten at a time, the competitors will race 20 yards to either their ATV or motorcycle (competitor's choice) and take to the track for five laps. Upon finishing five laps, the racers will return to one zone, race 20 yards and over hay bales, to another zone where they will get on an ATV or motorcycle and race an additional five laps.

The competitors will repeat the process twice more, racing 20 laps altogether before finishing with a 20-yard sprint to a checkered flag.

"It's not a gimmick or a joke," said Christensen. "It is about athleticism and endurance."

Christensen said anybody interested in participating needs to show up at the track before 9 a.m. to get signed in. He has no idea how many will show up, but those who do will appear on television.

The only requirement is to have a 450cc or smaller dirt bike. ATVs will be made available.

"Whether it is a stinker or a hit it, there are going to be five episodes shown on Speed," said Christensen. "Were going to make a day of it and have some fun. So why not come out and kill a Sunday having some fun?"

The event is free of charge to spectators and is expected to last throughout the day.

Article Reference: WCFcourier.com is the Waterloo-Cedar Falls homepage for all local news, sports, entertainment and events happening in the Cedar Valley

Monday, July 9, 2007
By JIM NELSON, Courier Sports Writer
INDEPENDENCE -- There were audio and video problems.

The rules changed from time to time.

But "Rapid Turnover" was billed as an experiment ... an experiment 2 million television viewers will eventually get to critique.

New Hampton native and "Pinks" creator Rich Christensen brought the Speed Channel and his type of entertainment to Independence Motor Speedway Sunday to serve as a pilot for Christensen's Speed Channel show "Launch Hour."

More than 30 competitors arrived early Sunday and stayed late into the afternoon as Christensen taped five episodes of the show that will most likely air sometime in late August or early September.

"Launch Hour is about making it up as we go and just about focusing and creating. It is like art," said Christensen, who kept up a frenetic pace in the 100-degree weather.

"Rapid Turnover" is part of "Launch Hour," a program where Christensen creates a new show and gives viewers and fans the opportunity to decide if each show is worthy of its own series.

Christensen has come up with 11 different concepts and is in the process of filming each. "Launch Hour" will premier Sunday on the Speed Channel at 9 p.m. with "Blow it Up" and "Name that Test and Tune."

"Rapid Turnover" features individual drivers competing in three different disciplines of racing -- on motorcycles, on ATVs and on foot -- in what Christensen bills as a sprint medley.

Originally,10 racers were going to compete at a time with each racing 20 yards to either their ATV or motorcycle (competitor's choice), then taking to the track for five laps. Upon finishing five laps, the racers were to race 20 yards over hay bales, then move to another zone where they would get on an ATV or motorcycle and race an additional five laps.

The competitors were to repeat the process twice more, racing 20 total laps before finishing with a 20-yard sprint to a checkered flag.

By the time the show started filming Sunday, there were as many as 12 racers in a heat and as few as four in the main event. Instead of five laps, each section of the race was cut to four and eventually three.

But that is what "Launch Hour" is all about, flying by the seat of its pants while trying to make an exciting show, according to Christensen's brother, Kent, who works in Rich's production company and will direct some of the pilot shows.

"We're just doing this on the run," said Kent during a small break in the action. "We still don't even know what the rules are. We are creating it as we go. As you've seen, it is completely exciting. There is something here, you can feel it. You can see people are having a great time. We couldn't be happier right now."

The Christensens, of which there were three Sunday (Rich, Kent and their cousin, Kail, who is a regular on "Pinks"), hope one of the 11 pilots will hit it big like "Pinks."

When the Christensens showed up to film the original episode of "Pinks" in 2004, there were fewer than 10 people in attendance. Today, the show, which airs at 9 p.m. on Wednesdays, draws 2 million viewers weekly and is seen in more than 20 countries.

On June 29-30 at the Milan Dragway in Milan, Mich., more than 32,000 fans showed up for "Pinks All Out."

"They were all there for the most part for 12 hours," said Kail Christensen. "To get 32,000 people for a 12-hour period for any event is pretty miraculous. It was like the Woodstock of drag racing.

"At our original shoot of 'Pinks,' it was very interesting because within the first five minutes of filming we knew we had something pretty special.

"Who knows about this? It looks like people are having fun, and it's been exciting. This is what Rich does best. He has a passion for racing and a passion for speed ... hence, the Speed Channel. 'Launch Hour' gives us - Rich - a vehicle to create new cutting-edge shows and really bring amateur racing to the forefront."

For much of the early action Sunday, Waterloo's Aaron King was emerging as the new show's star, winning the first main event.

"It is a different deal, but a lot of fun," said King. "There is something about combining motorcycle racing, ATV racing and running. The ATVs were different because my entire background is with motorcycles, and I'm definitely not a runner. It's a cool deal and cool that it is in Iowa.

"At first I didn't believe they were actually going to be here. It's definitely been fun, and I hope it turns out to be a good deal."

"I don't understand what exactly is happening or going on, but I'm having a lot of fun," added Dusty Klein of Waterloo.

The action was filmed by High Five Productions of Nashville, Tenn., the same company that produced Garth Brooks' TV specials. There were numerous cameras -- hand-held, on booms and on lifts, staged around the track to catch all the action. DRR ATVs provided more than $80,000 worth of its ATVs for the event.

"The president of the ATVA (All Terrain Vehicle Association) contacted us and asked if we'd like to get involved," said Lou Decuzzi of DRR, based in Brunswick, Ohio. "I guess they were turned down by all of the other major manufacturers, but we felt it was a great opportunity to showcase our new product. It's been an awesome experience."

Rich Christensen was nearly beside himself after viewing early action, and feels like he has a potential hit.

"I just watched some of the footage in the truck, and it was done in HD (high definition) and it is unbelievable," he said. "It was like watching a motion picture. And it was chaotic and full of chaos. If this thing pops on TV like it is popping here, this is going to be a heck of a show."

The beauty of "Launch Hour" and "Rapid Turnover" is that viewers will eventually vote and have input on whether the show will be made into a series of its own.

"Good or bad, let us know because it is only going to help," said Kent Christensen.

Article Reference: WCFcourier.com is the Waterloo-Cedar Falls homepage for all local news, sports, entertainment and events happening in the Cedar Valley