New reality miniseries will follow Kyle Busch prepping for Chase

Ever wanted to live like Kyle Busch without the threat of possibly getting punched in the face? You get your chance next week, as ESPN2 will air a five-part reality miniseries entitled "Riding Shotgun: Kyle Busch."

Produced for ESPN by the NASCAR Media Group, the show will follow Kyle through the week of Sept. 13 right on through the first race in the Chase at New Hampshire. Each program will be a half-hour, and since it's airing nearly live, the shows will be turned around in less than 24 hours. In other words, if you happen to run into Kyle in the Slushy Line for the Quik Stop next week, chances are you'll be on TV the next day.

Now, this sounds like a very cool program, but it's going to be a little tricky following it, so mark your calendars accordingly: Monday at 8 p.m. ET; Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 5:30 p.m. ET, and Thursday at 6 p.m. ET, all on ESPN2.

What's going to be interesting is seeing how (or whether) this series shows the difference between the public Kyle and the private Kyle, or "Old Kyle" and "New Kyle," whichever. The series will follow Kyle at shop meetings, testing, motorhome life, and prep for a double-duty weekend. In addition, you'll be able to see some behind-the-scenes action as Kyle hits the ESPN HQ on Thursday when he, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart storm the various programs at the World Wide Leader.

We've long said Kyle is great for NASCAR, but he's relatively unknown outside the sport. It's going to be interesting to see if this raises his public profile ... or detonates it.