Tim Allen said he looked "geeky" as he raced around the track on the U.S. 'Top Gear' (Sun., 10PM ET on HIST). "You think the helmet makes you look like a bigger geek, or the car?" asked host and racing analyst Rutledge Wood of the "Big Star in a Small Car" scene.

Allen answered, "No, me. Just, I look at other pictures of me, and I go, 'Who's that old man there?'" Well, the actor certainly didn't drive like an old man, placing third among the series' other celebrity racers. But Allen was disappointed: fellow Detroit native Kid Rock bested him for second place.

As an actor, Dominic Monaghan specializes in playing characters who take part in an impossible quest ... of one kind or another. In 'The Lord of the Rings,' he starred as a hobbit engaged in a thousand-year struggle to destroy the One Ring of Power. On 'Lost,' he was a musician who tried to unravel the secrets of a tropical island (and who died in the process).

But on the racing show 'Top Gear' (Sun., 10PM ET on HIST), his job was much, much easier.

Dominic doesn't like cars very much -- he calls them his "least favorite form of transport." Nonetheless, on the new 'Top Gear,' he shattered the old celebrity racing record. In the process, he beat out a real-life hero: Astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

The gearheads of the world rejoiced when NBC put a bullet in the back of the head of a planned remake of the classic British car show 'Top Gear.'

And who can blame them? First of all, this is NBC we're talking about, a network that would pull a show off-the air five minutes into its premiere episode if the ratings didn't please "Darth Zucker." Plus, 'Top Gear' isn't just an institution to gear junkies and "petrolheads." It's one of the most accessible and hilarious shows on television. Even if you drive a used 2001 Pontiac Sunfire and subsequently know nothing about good cars, you can still enjoy it just as much as the octane-brain who takes a brand new Gumpert Apollo to work.

Now The History Channel is taking a crack at rebuilding the show's stalled engine from scratch. I say give it a chance. Anything has the potential to be good if its heart is in the right place. But before you tell me to do something that would get your mouth washed out with soap and a Brillo pad by your mother, don't take my word for it. Take it from one of the show's upcoming stars.