Food Network’s Great Food Truck Race Rolls Into Louisville

My love for food trucks knows no bounds, but it's divided into equal parts. Yes, I love the food; always have. But I'm equally impressed with the format itself. Thank you, Charles Goodnight, for your late 19th-century creation of the "chuckwagon," which evolved into what we know and love today as the "food truck."

Of course, Food Network had to jump all over that concept, and, 19 seasons in, The Great Food Truck Race has become one of its most popular series. Today, host Tyler Florence and his crew are in Louisville to begin shooting the season finale, which will consume most of the week.

The Great Food Truck Race Format

Florence has been a fixture on the Food Network for 30 years, practically since the network's inception. We've seen him anywhere they've needed him, but The Great Food Truck Race is arguably his biggest hit. In case you're not familiar, each episode begins with teams receiving seed money. They then travel across the country selling their wares. The lowest earner each week is eliminated. The last team standing wins the season's cash prize and its own food truck.

The Great Food Truck Race Comes to Louisville

The final three teams are on the streets of Derby City today, May 4th, selling their goods and hoping they're still around when the final two go head to head Thursday, May 7th, for the season finale's grand finale. The show will also be filmed on Wednesday, May 6th, from 11 AM to 5 PM at the Louisville Slugger Museum. Tyler Florence posted some of Monday's activity on Instagram.

Those final two teams, whoever they may be, will participate in their ultimate competition at Churchill Downs, where ticket goers, unaware of this development, are in for a very nice surprise.

The Great Food Truck Race's 19th season began filming in Nashville in March, then made stops in Franklin, Knoxville, and Gatlinburg.

The season will begin airing in June; the Louisville episode will be the season's eighth.