#The Great Food Truck Race: Season 17; Premiere Date for Games on the Gulf Set by Food Network

(Photo: Food Network)

The Great Food Truck Race is returning soon for its 17th season. The new “Games on the Gulf” season will arrive in June. Hosted by Tyler Florence, the new season of the competition series will follow the operators of nine food trucks as they try to win the $50,000 prize in Florida.

Food Network revealed more about the new season in a press release.

The Great Food Truck Race returns with an all-new route across the country’s Gulf Coast this summer with a fresh roster of aspiring food truck operators battling to make the best food on wheels to win a life-changing $50,000 grand prize. Host Tyler Florence kicks off the season welcoming nine teams to NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston for the start of the race. Each team must prove their culinary expertise, marketing savvy and selling skills in themed challenges to beat their rivals and stay in the race. In a new twist this season, the teams are divided into “Stars and Stripes” squads and the top sellers each week are awarded gold, silver and bronze medals that come with a cash bonus. The Great Food Truck Race: Games on the Gulf premieres Sunday, June 30th at 8pm (all times ET/PT) and culminates in an action-packed finale from the renowned South Beach Wine and Food Festival in Miami on Sunday, August 4th at 8pm.

“Nothing says summer like The Great Food Truck Race and this season’s first-time route across the Gulf Coast brings our trucks to places we’ve never been before,” said Betsy Ayala, Head of Content, Food, Warner Bros. Discovery. “Each time these talented teams roll up to a new location, it’s truly an event.”

Teams competing are: Argentina’s Empanadas – Wichita, Kansas (Carolina Freeman, Paola Mentis, Chad Freeman); Bao Bei – Washington DC (Kevin Hsieh, Cody Hoover, Zakary Keres); Cooks with Passion – Atlanta, Georgia (Andrew Bernadine, Terry Jones, Jasmine Smith); Down to Get Tacos – Gilbert, Arizona (Karina Wollangk, Kiana Wollangk, Oz Gudino); Fishnet – Baltimore, Maryland (Ferhat Yalcin, Uswa McDowell, Keyia Yalcin); Kalye – New York, New York (Rob Mallari-D’Auria, Barry Jacinto, Mark Besanna); Plates on Deck – Davenport, Florida (Ken James, Ziomara Taveras, Samuel Jenkins); SOLA Po’Boys – Los Angeles, California (Serrano Barnes, Barenese Butler, Randy Butler) and Wally’s Waffles – Chicago, Illinois (Wally Strzepka, Maggie Strzepka, Joe Caiafa).

In the two-hour season premiere, host Tyler Florence welcomes nine food trucks to the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston where their epic nine-city road trip for $50,000 across America’s Gulf Coast begins. These first-time food truck teams face daunting challenges in the hopes of reaping unprecedented rewards, including award medals that have carryover value in the next city. Tyler groups the teams into squads who must scrap for sales in an all-out selling frenzy, and the bottom two teams must face a shocker of an elimination. The race then hits Galveston, Texas where baseball all-star Justin Turner judges a Ballpark Bites challenge. Upcoming episodes include an all-out food brawl with All Elite Wrestling tag teams The Acclaimed and The Gunns in Pascagoula, Mississippi and a challenge to serve the crowds at Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama. In the season finale, the last two trucks standing head to the famed South Beach Food and Wine Festival in Miami where discerning Grand Tasting guests; Food Network stars Maneet Chauhan, Jeff Mauro and Aarti Sequeira; and food influencers Owen Han and Toni Chapman help decide which truck wins the life-changing $50,000 grand prize.

Fans can get to know the competing teams and find out where Tyler likes to eat when he’s on the road at FoodNetwork.com/GreatFoodTruckRace. Follow along with the competition on social media and tell us which truck is serving up the best grub using #GreatFoodTruckRace.

The Great Food Truck Race is produced by Critical Content for Food Network.

What do you think? Have you enjoyed this Food Network series? Do you plan to watch season 17 next month?