Rising Tiger Withdrew From 'The Great Food Truck Race' for a Very Unexpected Reason

Turning a food truck into a thriving business can be harder than it looks. That is something the team behind Rising Tiger learned during the 18th season of The Great Food Truck Race. Chef Devin Keopraphay shocked television audiences when he announced that he would be withdrawing from the acclaimed reality program.

With a $50,000 cash prize at stake, it's hard to imagine why someone would take themselves out of the competition. Why did Devin Keopraphay and the Rising Tiger team decide that they would no longer participate in The Great Food Truck Race? Here's what we know about what drove the successful cook to move on from the exciting opportunity.

Through a movingly transparent Instagram post, Devin Keopraphay reminded his followers that running a business can get increasingly expensive, very quickly. Constant disagreements between the chef and one of his core investors made Devin realize that it would no longer be possible for him to keep Rising Tiger afloat.

Devin provided some context regarding his approach to why he worked on Rising Tiger and his relationship with money. The reality television star stated that he cooks because he loves it and because "money has never meant anything to (him) personally or in a business venture." Unfortunately, Devin's love of the game wasn't going to be enough for Rising Tiger to become a Great Food Truck Race winner.

Yahoo! News reports that Devin's first approach to the food industry happened when the cook washed woks at his family's Chinese restaurant in Washington, D.C. Growing up in an environment where he could learn how to run a restaurant could have been one of the factors that inspired Devin to become the star of Rising Tiger.

With Devin and the Rising Tiger team out of the 18th season of The Great Food Truck Race, other competitors will fight even harder to walk away with the $50,000 cash prize. Between six and nine teams are selected at the start of each season. The true challenge of the show comes in the form of multiple obstacles that force competitors to adapt to unpredictable situations.

Every team is usually given a predetermined amount of money to buy the ingredients they will be using over the course of the competition. Completing challenges gives the teams an opportunity to get more money in order to reach their goals. The format of The Great Food Truck Race has resonated with audiences so well that the program has been around for more than a decade.

Tyler Florence is the host of The Great Food Truck Race. Not only is the celebrity the owner of the Wayfare Tavern in San Francisco, but he also has appeared in multiple reality television series. Globe Trekker, Worst Cooks in America, and Food 911 are some of the titles that allowed Tyler to grow as a presenter. The talented television personality also made his way to The View and The Oprah Winfrey Show.