PREMIERE

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO CONQUER THE "CRASH COURSE?"

New Automotive Competition Reality Show Featuring Challenging Driving Courses Never Before Seen on Television, Premieres August 26 on ABC

Hosts are Orlando Jones and Dan Cortese

This summer ABC fulfills your need for speed and laughs by putting you in the driver's seat of "Crash Course," a one-of-a-kind automotive competition reality series produced by A. Smith & Co. Productions, the producers of "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" and "Hell's Kitchen." Hosts are Orlando Jones ("Drumline," "Biker Boyz") and Dan Cortese ("The Superstars," "Surviving Suburbia"). The series was shot in the automobile capitol of the world, Detroit, Michigan. "Crash Course" premieres WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

Imagine racing in the ultimate extreme driving course. Now imagine it with your significant other or mother right beside you giving you directions, all the while seeing flaming ramps up ahead. "Crash Course" will not only put the couples' navigating skills to the test but will test drive their relationship and patience with one another, as teams work together and summon their greatest driving skills to make it across the finish line. The contestants will be everyday people from all walks of life who have a pre-existing relationship (father-daughter, boyfriend and girlfriend, best friends, etc). Each week, five teams of two will compete against each other and be eliminated one by one as they battle through various challenges before facing the final "Crash Course" at the end of each episode -- the ultimate gravity and logic defying driving test -- for a chance to win the ultimate prize of $50,000.

Teams will be tested individually as well as in group races in such competitions as car bowling and backward drag racing -- with a boat in tow. Driving on the road of life is not about the destination but the journey, and for these contestants it will be a hilarious, nerve wracking and emotional lap to victory.

This week's five teams competing on the "Crash Course" include:

Single Moms: Fashion models Laurie Carrasco, 42, from Anaheim, CA, and Gina Nalamlieng, 36, from Los Angeles, met on a runway 10 years ago, and people often confuse them for sisters.

Best Friends: Pharmaceutical drug salesmen Nilson Goes, 27, from Belem, Brazil, and Adrian Larralde, 36, from Santa Barbara, CA, met as competitors, as they were both selling competitive products. Adrian's a big-wave surfer who has broken both arms, a leg and his skull.

Married: Husband and wife Ralph Bryant, 50, from East Pointe, MI, and Jennifer Bryant, 36, from Ortonville, MI, work together as a financial advisor and an assistant. While Ralph's the boss at work, Jennifer appears to be the bossy one. He loves his sports car, and she loves to sew and garden.

Siblings: From Stockbridge, MI, Chris Schoenberg, 23, was in the Air Force and likes to ride his motorcycle "Top Gun"-style. His sister, Sunni Schoenberg, 19, works at a tanning salon and claims that her brother treated her like a wrestling opponent while they were growing up.

Roommates: Ty Snow, 33, from Glendale, CA, and Sarah Barker, 25, from Los Angeles, are friends who live together. They claim it's especially difficult because they're always in competition. Ty says that Sarah's a control freak, and Sarah claims she's the better driver.

The executive producers of "Crash Course" are Arthur Smith and Kent Weed for A. Smith & Company Productions ("I Survived a Japanese Game Show" and "Hell's Kitchen"), Rick Hurvitz and Bruce Beresford-Redman for MindCrime. The series is broadcast with Spanish subtitles via secondary closed captioning. A TV parental guideline will be assigned closer to airdate.