Many Americans (well, many of them who would be interested in this sort of program) feel that way. It goes back to our xenophobia; our dislike of everything non-American and preference for American things. If the US program was suddenly recast with Brits, the folks that like the US Top Gear would be turned off. If the British original was recast with American presenters, it would still be disliked by the same folks that already dislike it, because it's still coming from overseas.
I've often stated that the show would probably be better if it wasn't branded as "Top Gear" at all and wasn't trying to replicate the format of the original down to basically every tiny detail. If I want to watch something exactly like the original, I'd just watch the original (and I do). I personally feel that they should have done their own thing rather than trying to duplicate another program.