By CJ Hines

For 15 years, Rich Christensen pitched TV shows to television networks. In one year, he heard the word ‘no’ 70 times.
“I told them, ‘you better take a chance on me.’ One network gave me a chance, and look where I am. I have the No. 1 show,” the New Hampton native said.

That no.1-rated show is “PINKS®,” which airs Wednesdays on the Speed Channel. Hot Rod magazine recently rated “PINKS” the hottest car show on TV. The show pits two contestants in a drag-racing style format in the best three-out-of-five races. The stakes? The title to the other contestant’s car—the pink slip.

Part of the show’s excitement stems from the sometimes contentious negotiations to account for the cars’ varying horsepower, such as giving one car several car-lengths head start.

The show’s slogan is “Lose The Race. Lose Your Ride.” While you may think no one is crazy enough to risk losing a car, interest to get on the show has been tremendous. Initially, Christensen put up a $50 Web site and got 11,000 responses, including people who built cars specifically to race on the show. The first season, part of which was filmed at the Cedar Falls Raceway, attracted 600,000 viewers per show, with an estimated 1 million viewers for the second season, which ended May 31.

How did someone who admits he can “barely open the hood of a car” create such a success?

“After graduating from UNI, I went to New York and interned at the soap, ‘Another World.’ I worked there for a while, came back to Iowa, took $400 and went to LA. I built a gym and was a trainer, but I kept trying to break into TV,” said the 1986 graduate, who works out seven days a week. “I just believed—I just knew that I could make it. I had people laugh and say, ‘You’re never going to sell a TV show.’ But my agent and my wife and buddies all said, ‘It’s just a matter of time.’ The whole time I had tunnel vision that someone is going to buy my shows. This network gave me a shot—$5,000 and three cameras. The format was so compelling and my vision was so clear. I just knew.”

As the show’s host and executive producer, Christensen could live anywhere he wanted. He and his wife, Gayle, moved from Los Angeles to New Hampton “the second” he signed the contract.

“I choose to live anywhere in the world and I chose New Hampton. It is the most amazing town. I’m a very private person; in my home I’m cocoon man. I run into people and it’s ‘Hey, how’s the weather, can you believe that wind last night?’ They’ve all seen the show but they respect my space. They totally honor me but don’t treat me any different. People are really fans of the show but you’d never know it. If I ask them about the show, they’ll talk about it, but that just shows character. Iowa is the best state in the union,” he said. “I’m also a huge Panther fan and supporter of the school. I told people in LA, ‘If you want to go to a great school, go to Northern Iowa.’ I had a really good experience there.”

One of his college buddies, Gavin Jerome (’93), works with Christensen on the show. Jerome (UNI classmates may remember him as Gavin Boultinghouse) is the show announcer, track liaison and official.

“It’s great having Gavin here. He’s a 12 on a 10-point scale. He’s the best,” Christensen said. “We hadn’t connected in eight or nine years and I got this show and found him and said, ‘Hey, I’ve got this show—then we hung out and boom, it was like we were back in college, which is probably not a good thing.”

When Jerome isn’t filming “PINKS,” he lives in Ankeny and operates his own business, The Morale Mechanic, which provides motivational seminars and tools for businesses.

“PINKS” doesn’t take that much time away from my business,” Jerome said. “We film a couple days a month and I always travel with my laptop to stay connected to the speaking world. So far, I have had no dates overlap and I hope that problem doesn’t arise because I have the best job on television—a ring-side seat to the three-ring circus that is ‘PINKS.’”

Also on the show is Christensen’s cousin, Kail, originally from Cresco, who is the finish-line judge.

Unlike other shows, there are no retakes. “I refused to do that when I came up with the concept. It’s my show and I want to be honest with my audience. No retakes, no fake anything, 100 percent real,” Christensen said. “It also works to my benefit that I don’t know anything about cars, so I don’t have any prejudice.”

Filming for “PINKS” third season, which debuted July 12, is underway. Drag racing enthusiasts can catch the next taping July 23 and 24 at the Maryland International Raceway in Mechanicsville, Md.

For more information about the show, go to www.pinks.tv. For information about Christensen or Jerome, go to
www.richchristensen.com or www.moralemechanic.com