August 11, 2025

Team from Ashland will compete in Food Network’s ‘The Great Food Truck Race’

The Oregon food scene is known nationally for culinary creativity, which may explain why professionals from the Beaver State have a way of

turning up on national TV series

that are focused on food.

The latest example comes courtesy of the Food Network series,

“The Great Food Truck Race,”

hosted by Tyler Florence. In the show, teams are challenged to drive their food trucks along a route, with stops that require the teams to cook and sell food, competing for the grand prize of $50,000.

In the new season, titled “The Great Food Truck Race: Truckin’ Awesome,” the teams include the

Fat Kid Food Co.,

from Ashland. The team members are Chaz McKenna, Tristan Keroles, and Tristan “Milkshake” Compton.

The Oregon trio won’t be anywhere near home territory, however. According to the announcement, this season the nine teams will be taking a road trip up the Atlantic coast.

“From a NASCAR raceway and packed beach boardwalk to a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, the teams visit landmark locations to face unprecedented challenges, demanding celebrity judges and some of the biggest crowds ever seen on the race,” the announcement says. “The action-packed, eight-city route starts in Savannah, Georgia with a challenge from baseball’s funniest team the Savannah Bananas, followed by a first elimination with a shocking surprise.”

According to its

Facebook account

, the Fat Kid Food Co. food truck pops up in Southern Oregon in such locations as Ashland, Grants Pass, and Medford.

A post shared by FatKidFoodCo. (@fatkidfoodco)

The food truck’s

Instagram account

features photos of “hot mess” sandwiches, smash burgers, and more.

The new season of “The Great Food Truck Race” premieres at 9 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 3, on Food Network, and

streams the next day on HBO Max

. Food Network shows also stream on

Philo, which offers a free trial

; and

Fubo, which also offers a free trial.

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Kristi Turnquist

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