Give me the original 'Gong Show'

By LEE MONTGOMERY

Did anyone watch the debut of "Roush Racing: Driver X" on the Discovery Channel earlier this week? No? Well, here's a synopsis:

1. It's hard for Roush Racing to pare down the thousands of applications for it's Gong Show.

2. The ones that do get invited love racing and will do anything to get the Roush Craftsman Truck Series ride.

Now there's no reason for you to watch. I'm not sure why I did, for the first episode was, well, let's be nice, mediocre. Maybe it'll pick up in later episodes when we finally get to see the actual Gong Show.

If the first episode is any indication, I doubt it.

For the unitiated, "Driver X" is a NASCAR reality TV show based on Roush's search for a driver for its Craftsman Truck Series ride. Kurt Busch and Todd Kluever are past winners, and they're not doing so bad.

So Roush and the Discovery Channel hooked up to go behind the scenes for Roush's latest Gong Show.

Now, if you don't get the Gong Show reference, you are too young to be reading this. The original Gong Show was some classic TV. If the Discovery Channel worked "Driver X" around the original Gong Show premise, they'd have something.

As it is, "Driver X" needs a lot of work. Viewers were told too many times how much young drivers want to race for Roush, as if race fans didn't get that already. But maybe this show isn't for race fans. If not, maybe "Driver X" can work.

If it is, they missed the boat. I can't imagine real race fans wanting to watch much of it, for the show is way too basic - at least the first episode.

Maybe I'll watch the second to see if it's any better. I doubt it'll ever match American Chopper, and I know it won't come close to the original Gong Show. But it is racing-related, so it must have something going for it, right?

By the way, we already know who won: Erik Darnell. Now there's REALLY no need to watch.