Nickelodeon's "Blaze and the Monster Machines," an animated series geared toward preschool-aged children, gains four new guest voices this week in the form of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Jimmie Johnson, Danica Patrick, Chase Elliott and Kasey Kahne.
As part of the show's aptly named "Race Car Adventures Week," some of Hendrick Motorsports and Stewart-Haas Racing's finest honed their voiceover skills to become Rally (Patrick), Dash (Johnson), Mark Set-Go (Elliott) and Fender (Kahne) on the animated screen.
"Blaze and the Monster Machines" follows the adventures of monster truck Blaze and his 8-year-old driver, AJ (no, not Allmendinger). The NASCAR competitors will join the series for a total of six new race car-themed episodes, the first of which premiered Monday. In the second episode, titled "Race to Eagle Rock," and airing today at 1:30 p.m. ET, Blaze and his speedy new pals transform into race cars for a wild race in VelocityVille.
"The voiceover stuff has been a lot of fun for me," Jimmie Johnson said in a behind-the-scenes video for Hendrick Motorsports. "You don't have to worry about marks. You don't have to worry about delivering physically the emotions that come out. You just focus on your voice."
"Blaze and the Monster Machines" currently ranks as the No. 1 preschool show in its time period and is the first preschool show to cover each aspect of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) in every episode. Reaching more than 90 million households in the United States, collaboration with Nickelodeon allows these drivers to make connections with younger fans, paving the way for their transition from animated race car consumers to avid motorsports enthusiasts.
Four additional episodes featuring the drivers will air this fall.