hodge podge clevelandThe Next Food Network Star returns to the air this summer on Sunday, June 2 at 9 PM ET/PT (the series that made Guy Fieri a household name) and the cast list has just been announced. Bobby Flay, Giada De Laurentiis and Alton Brown will return as the three guiding mentors and as a new twist, focus groups of Food Network fans will weigh in on the aspiring TV stars’ performances.

This season’s cast includes a food truck owner you will be familiar with if you have followed The Great Food Truck Race. Chris Hodgson is the owner of two Cleveland food trucks and participated in season two of GFTR and came in a close 2nd place to the eventual winners from The Lime Truck.

Here are the other cast finalists:

Nikki Dinki (New York), Andres Guillama (Waynesville, NC), Rodney Henry (Baltimore), Connie “Lovely” Jackson (Los Angeles), Russell Jackson (San Francisco), Danushka Lysek (New York), Daniela Perez-Reyes (Haleiwa, Haw.), Viet Pham (Salt Lake City); Damaris Phillips (Louisville, Ky.), Stacey Poon-Kinney (San Diego) and Chad Rosenthal (Ambler, Penn.).

Check out the trailer for season nine below.