About
What began as a scrappy, self-funded passion project in New Zealand has methodically engineered itself into a polished, multi-platform motorsport media brand with a foothold in two countries. “Wheelburn,” the high-octane adventure show hosted by television producer Mike Dawes and professional drifter Cole Armstrong, has carved a unique niche by blending the spectacular stunts of Nitro Circus with the automotive reverence of Top Gear. But the real story lies beyond the tire smoke and celebrity guests; it’s a example of modern media strategy, leveraging social funnels to build a proprietary “walled garden” network, turning YouTube views into a dedicated, controllable audience on their own terms.
Wheelburn: History and Growth
The origin of Wheelburn is a story of grit and resourcefulness. Conceived and produced by host Mike Dawes, the show began as a “shoestring-budget hustle.” According to an interview with Dawes, the first season’s 11 episodes, released in 2021, were produced for a mere $62,000, with the team reportedly “filming in jandals” and “scraping by on noodles.” The project’s digital life began on December 25, 2020, with the creation of its primary YouTube channel, setting the stage for its public debut.
The show’s raw appeal found traction, and by its second season in 2022, Wheelburn had executed a significant leap in production and distribution. It was acquired by New Zealand’s national streaming service, TVNZ+, where it aired from July to September 2022. The series also secured a distribution deal in Australia with the 7plus streaming service. This transition marked a profound evolution from its low-budget origins, which Dawes described as becoming a “faster, rawer, Top Gear-level beast.” The brand’s forward momentum continues, with its creators officially announcing that a third season is in pre-production and will be filmed entirely in Australia, signaling a major geographic and market expansion.
Wheelburn: Content and Style
Wheelburn’s format is a carefully calibrated mix of high-performance driving, celebrity participation, and scenic travel. The show is built around several recurring segments that provide structure and spectacle. “The Fastest Lap” challenges both professional drivers and celebrity guests to set a benchmark time in the show’s signature 500-horsepower Mazda RX-7, powered by a 20b peripheral port rotary engine.
Another key segment is the “Hot Seat,” where guests are interviewed while strapped into the passenger seat of a 1,000-horsepower, 4-seater drift car. The “Gymkhana” segment leverages co-host Cole Armstrong’s real-world expertise as a multiple-time D1NZ Drifting Champion, as he instructs guests in the art of drifting. These core segments are woven together with “On Tour” footage from major motorsport events across New Zealand and, soon, Australia. The show also incorporates viewer engagement through its “Top 5” segment, which features user-submitted videos uploaded via the brand’s proprietary app.
How Wheelburn Makes Money
Wheelburn’s most well-organized feature is its business model, which deliberately avoids reliance on traditional social media platforms. The brand employs a classic funnel strategy, using high-volume, discovery-oriented platforms as marketing tools to drive traffic to a proprietary digital asset.
The primary YouTube channel, @Wheelburn23, which boasts over 66,100 subscribers and 35.5 million views across more than 2,300 videos, serves as the top of this funnel. The vast majority of its uploads are short clips and YouTube Shorts, optimized for algorithmic discovery. A secondary, legacy channel, @wheelburn1686, houses older, full-length episodes from Season 1 but is largely inactive.
The singular call-to-action across YouTube and its official TikTok account (@wheelburntv) is to push viewers to motohub.online and the accompanying Motohub app. This platform is the central hub of the Wheelburn brand, hosting the exclusive full-length seasons and functioning as a social network for motorsport enthusiasts. By consolidating its core audience within this network, Wheelburn owns the user relationship, controls monetization, and insulates itself from the policy shifts of third-party networks. While not independently verifiable, the platform self-reports a user base of 72,000. This model is further supported by a B2B sponsorship with Repco, a major automotive parts retailer in Australia and New Zealand.
The generic “Motohub” name required careful disambiguation. The dossier confirms that the show’s platform, motohub.online, is entirely distinct from similarly named entities, including motohub.me (a Dubai-based motorcycle business), motohub.com.au (an Australian e-commerce store), the “MotoHub by Swish” news app, and a Houston-based eBay parts seller.
Wheelburn's Collaborations
A key element of Wheelburn’s credibility and appeal is its roster of high-profile guests from the worlds of motorsport, professional sports, and entertainment. The show has featured a decorated lineup of motorsport professionals, including four-time Bathurst champion Greg Murphy, professional drifter “Mad” Mike Whiddett, rally champion Hayden Paddon, and three-time NZ superbike champion Sloan Frost.
The guest list extends well beyond the track, attracting mainstream celebrities and athletes. Notable participants include heavyweight boxing champion Joseph Parker, All Blacks rugby player Brodie Retallick, actor and radio host Tammy Davis of Outrageous Fortune fame, and international stunt performer Dayna Grant, known for her work in Mad Max: Fury Road and Wonder Woman. The show has also featured 11-time motocross champion Cody Cooper, further cementing its connection to the broader extreme sports community.
Wheelburn: Public Reception
The most significant validation of Wheelburn’s public reception is its acquisition by major regional broadcasters. Its presence on TVNZ+ in New Zealand and 7plus in Australia places it alongside professionally produced network content, elevating it far beyond its independent YouTube origins.
A thorough investigation found no verifiable public controversies, legal issues, or significant disputes connected to the Wheelburn show or its correctly identified hosts, Mike Dawes and Cole Armstrong. However, the commonality of the hosts’ names underscores the critical importance of precise identity verification. Public searches for “Cole Armstrong controversy” incorrectly surface information regarding allegations of sexual misconduct made in 2020 against Joey Armstrong, an American musician. Rigorous analysis confirms this is an entirely separate individual with no connection to the Wheelburn co-host. Similarly, searches for controversies related to Mike Dawes lead to discussions about the musical style of his prominent homonym, an English fingerstyle guitarist. These potential misattributions highlight a key finding: Wheelburn and its creators maintain a clean public record, a fact established only through meticulous disambiguation.
Wheelburn: Philanthropy
The research dossier contained no verifiable information regarding any philanthropic activities or initiatives undertaken by the Wheelburn brand or its creators.
Wheelburn Today
Wheelburn has successfully navigated the treacherous path from a low-budget passion project to a professional media entity with international distribution. Its story is one of strategic evolution, moving from a simple content-on-YouTube model to a well-organized business architecture that prioritizes audience ownership and direct engagement. With a third season set in the larger Australian market on the horizon, Mike Dawes and Cole Armstrong are not just building a car show; they are building a self-contained media network, proving that with the right blend of high-octane content and shrewd business strategy, a niche interest can be revved into a powerful engine for growth.