Townsend Bell to MLS players: “What’Cha Got?”

Rolex 24 and Tequila Patrón Endurance Cup champion puts MLS players to the test behind the wheel

What happens when you mix TUDOR United SportsCar Championship driver Townsend Bell, six world-class Major League Soccer players, Continental Tires and a Lamborghini?

The answer is actually another question:  “What’Cha Got?”

“What’Cha Got?” is the brainchild of Bell, the 2014 Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup GT Daytona champion and Rolex 24 At Daytona GTD winner. You see, even when he’s not behind the wheel of the No. 555 AIM Autosport Ferrari or the microphone during NBCSN’s IndyCar telecasts, Bell’s wheels always are turning.

On a drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas last year, Bell’s “turning wheels” led him to the concept behind “What’Cha Got?”

“If you’ve ever done that long drive from L.A. to Vegas, it’s kind of straight and featureless and my wheels were turning – literally and figuratively – thinking about the fundamental reality that what I love and what I do in the world of high-performance automotive and racing caters to a pretty narrow slice of the population, that is people that love cars,” Bell explains.

“But beneath all that, my fundamental belief is that – while not everybody LOVES cars – most people LIKE cars. I wanted to come up with a show idea that addresses the much larger market of people that like cars. Therefore, I knew I had to come up with something that was short.”

“What’Cha Got?” is a two-and-a-half minute weekly feature during MLS coverage on ESPN2 and ESPN FC. It pits six MLS players – three from the West and three from the East – against each other in a driving competition. It will conclude with one player taking home a Continental Tire-shod Lamborghini after the “What’Cha Got?” finale in December. The first episode aired last Sunday, featuring Chandler Hoffman from the Los Angeles Galaxy.

“’What’Cha Got?’ is intended to be as simple as can be,” Bell said. “’What’Cha Got?’ at home, meaning, what does the athlete drive every day, and ‘What’Cha Got?’ for the track. It’s a cone course that we set up in their stadium parking lot and we give each athlete a chance to compete for the fastest time.

“The fastest athletes in the Eastern conference and the Western conference advance to a final, to determine the fastest overall guy and therefore the winner of the Lamborghini.”

Bell is very familiar with soccer. He played as a youth and throughout high school, and attended matches involving some of Europe’s most storied leagues when he lived or visited abroad, so he understands the athleticism of the players. However, he was impressed by the players’ abilities behind the wheel.

“These guys have exceptional footwork, and it translates impressively in the car,” Bell said. “They’re so adept at using finesse with their feet.

“I think one of the great experiences for me was to see just how focused and responsive these guys were to coaching. They all received the same 45-minute coaching and practice-lap session with me in the passenger seat. They listen and respond so intently to coaching – I guess, as you would expect, since they’re professional athletes. The rate at which they absorb and implement that coaching is super impressive.”

In addition to Hoffman, Stephen Keel from FC Dallas, Dan Kennedy from Chivas USA – which also plays its home games in Los Angeles, Sean Johnson from the Chicago Fire, Giles Barnes from the Houston Dynamo and Graham Zusi from Sporting Kansas City will participate in upcoming episodes.  Bell hopes to expand the program further next season.

“We only had six players in this first season and we’d like to at least double that next season to include more MLS teams,” he said. “There are 21 MLS teams in 2015 with a few expansion organizations in New York and Orlando. We’d love to get to the point where every team is included.”

To find out answers to “What’Cha Got?” yourself, tune into ESPN2 and ESPN FC coverage of MLS games on Sundays from now through mid-December. Or check out past episodes on the Continental Tire YouTube channel.