Tim and Tickle of “Moonshiners” star in “Cannonball Run” spinoff special (video)

Discovery Channel’s series Moonshiners follows the real story of those who brew their “shine” — often in the woods near their homes in Appalachia using camouflaged equipment — and the local authorities who try to keep them honest. Two of the more popular characters from the show will be featured in an upcoming special on the network, in which they are billed as a “real life Bo and Luke Duke.”

Tim and Tickle (hey, it could be worse; they could be named Coy and Vance) star in Cannonball Run, premiering April 18 at 10pm E/P on Discovery Channel. On the show’s website, the moonshiner bios explain that Tim is “a third generation moonshiner [who] has been perfecting his craft for 40 years. He is an expert on moonshine history, and his family’s Irish lineage in Virginia goes back 200 years.” Meanwhile, Tickle’s bio describes how he “is a staunch believer in the importance of moonshining as a founding element of American government and society.”

In the special, it’s the dead of winter in Appalachia, and the moonshine season is still months away. But ‘shiners Tim and Tickle are planning a daring bootleg run for a fellow ‘shiner, something Tim rarely does in winter. But he needs the cash. In preparation for the run, the men chop and outfit their car to conceal up to 200 gallons of moonshine. Busts are going down across the region, so Tim and Tickle set out on a dry run to map their route and scan for police activity. Once the route is staked, Tickle leads in an interference car while Tim follows with the moonshine for a nighttime 100-mile run capped with a risky midday moonshine transfer, all while trying to avoid “a real life Boss Hogg,” as the press release says. (No Sheriff Rosco?)

Whether Cannonball Run lives up to its Dukes of Hazzard-esque billing remains to be seen. But speaking of them Duke Boys, I’ll just leave you with this: