The Truth About Cars is saying that rally racer, drifter, and stunt driver Tanner Foust will be one of the hosts of the American Top Gear. If you were like me and had never heard of him before, watch this video of him hosting a show on SPEED.

They also are reporting that Dan Neil will no longer be involved with the American Top Gear.

But the big news here is that NBC execs pulled L.A. Times auto writer Dan Neil from the U.S. show after a viewing his audition tape — despite a signed contract with the Pulitzer prize-winning critic. Neil says he’s “very disappointed” with the network’s decision, but understands their motivation. “They couldn’t handle my heat,” he joked. “Seriously. It’s probably because I’m not very good on TV.”

In addition, the article addresses some of the concerns we’ve been having about advertisers.

Neil also reveals that NBC and the BBC are aware that aping the original Top Gear’s no-holds-barred reviewing style could piss off the media company’s automotive advertisers — and devised a solution. “They’re writing around the problem, by not doing car reviews unless they really love the car.”

I seriously hope that’s a joke because making fun of cars is one of the things that makes Top Gear great. Then again, we have to face the reality that the whole reason NBC exists is due to advertisers, so they aren’t exactly going to want to piss them off. So, I guess not reviewing the crap cars is better than no show at all.

Thanks to jnelcar for the tip.

You can now download the podcast of what I mentioned earlier today. In it, Adam Carolla talks about how they aim to make Gear (aka Top Gear US) exactly the same as Top Gear UK since the UK version already has all of the bugs worked out. Fast forward to 11 or 12 minutes in if you’re in a hurry.

The more we’ve been discussing it on the forums, the more I’ve come to realize that yesterday’s post was probably way off the target.

The most likely reason for no sign of Gear on this fall’s schedule is that NBC is waiting to see how the yet to be filmed pilot will turn out before giving it the red or green light.

This is further supported by the fact that Adam Carolla just moments ago talked more about the show and how it will compare to the UK version (basically, he said they’re aiming for it to be exactly the same, just with American hosts).

So, love it or hate it (although you really should wait to see it before making an opinion on it), it’s not dead, at least for now.

There’s an interesting article in today’s San Francisco Chronicle about last Wednesday’s announcement by NBC about it’s schedule for the upcoming 52-week TV season. It points out the lack of any mention of “Gear” in the schedule.

Does this mean “Gear” has been put on the shelf before it even had a chance to get off the ground? It’s hard to say and opinions on our forums are mixed. It could have been axed, but it also could just still be in development phase and NBC is waiting to see how the pilot turns out.

Only time will tell.

In Jay Leno’s latest column for The Times, he talks about the American Top Gear and the struggles it will face in a sponsor driven market.

Another problem for Top Gear in America is the biting humour and criticisms of the cars. My great fear in America is that, for instance, if Kia was our sponsor this week, we’d have to say the car was fantastic.

He also mentions why he won’t be hosting it:

So someone calls me from the network and is clearly not a car person. He says: “You like cars, right?” I say yes. “Like, all kinds of cars?” Well, yes. I like all kinds of cars. Why? “Well, the network has bought the TV show . . . um . . . High Gear? Top Gear? Top Gear! Top Gear, yes. We know you like to build cars.”

I ask: what’s the plan for the show? “Well, like, one week you build a car that flies and the next week you make a car that goes under water.” So I said: you know you can’t build these things in a week.

In my mind I can just see Jeremy lambasting Americans for what they did to his show. So I think: I’ve got to run away from this as quickly as I can. So I tell him that, as much as I like the show, I try not to make my hobby my job.

The full article is very worth a read as he makes some really valid points. I’m less hopeful for the show now though after reading his article, but I still haven’t given up all hope.

I don’t have the time to listen to all of Adam Carolla’s morning show these days, but luckily we have people on our forums who do and they’ve pointed out to me the following two recent segments from the show:

• Friday, March 21st: Adam talking about drifting in a BMW M5 out at El Toro
• Thursday, March 27th: Starting 10 minutes in, Adam talks about Star in a Reasonably Priced Car and Top Gear in general

Adam Carolla mentioned on Monday’s show (about 13:30 in) that he’s headed out to El Toro on Thursday to film some stuff for the show until 6 PM. If you live nearby, might be worth peering through the fence to see if you can see anything, hehe.

EDIT: Whoops, linked to the wrong MP3. Should be correct now.

Edmunds.com is reporting that Dan Neil, a Pulitzer Prize-winning automotive writer for the Los Angeles Times, will be involved with Gear:

There’s been no official word yet from NBC on any of the show’s hosts; however, our sources say that Dan Neil, a Pulitzer Prize-winning automotive writer for the Los Angeles Times, will also be part of the show, most likely to add journalistic integrity.

I’m not sure if that means he’ll be in a hosting position or merely in a behind the scenes setting though. We’ll have to wait to see.

If you’re having your doubts about Adam Carolla and his recent announcement about being involved with NBC’s Gear (presumably hosting it), then you should listen to this podcast of his radio show from last year.

He talks about a trip he took to watch the 24 Hours of Le Mans in person, the Paris airshow he attended, and lots of other things including a rant about American cops. Listening to this should put to ease any concerns you’re having about him hosting it. He is a bona fide car nut.

Props to sporteknik for finding the MP3.

Adam Carolla mentioned today on his morning radio show that he is going to be involved in the American version of Top Gear. This stemmed from a comment he made on yesterday’s show about his upcoming projects (just a tiny mention about 11:45 in).

You can listen to today’s segment where he semi-announces it via his podcast. He’s asked a question about his comment yesterday and answers it early in the show.

Personally, I thought for sure he wouldn’t be one of the hosts due to his morning show, but I was obviously proven wrong. He is going to be one busy, busy man soon with doing his radio show, Dancing with the Stars, and now Gear.

Discussion about this is taking place on our forums.