Teams

BITE ME!

Garage Headquarters: Alpharetta, GA

Driver: Sam Ludden

Mechanics: Amy Seibel, Matt Higgins

Nuts and Bolts:

Matt Higgins, Sam Ludden, and Amy Seibel are the kind of people who take good times wherever they go. Matt and Sam were having fun together back in their sandbox days, and they found a kindred spirit when they met Amy during their years at Sequoyah High School in Canton, Georgia. Currently, as students at Georgia State (Matt), Georgia Perimeter College (Sam), and North Georgia College & State University (Amy), they’re the kind of people who instigate parties – really good parties – in parking lots. And they’re about to get the party started in the soapbox pits with an entry they cheerfully call “BITE ME!”

The name is more descriptive than confrontational: dressed as “King Kong-sized flies,” Sam and Amy will frantically flee down the hill with voracious “Venus Flytraps” in hot pursuit. “We all have great creativity skills,” says Sam. “Plus, when my dad was alive, he and I built and raced historic sports cars. He always had this dream of being in a Red Bull flying race, and this is the first step – Amy, Matt, and I want to see what it takes to make something light and cheap and go fast!” The 19-year-old, who works as a supermarket cashier to help pay for school, admits that design and construction are a challenge. “I helped my dad with his cars, but he was always there to show me how. I’ve never led a team,” he acknowledges. Nonetheless, Sam’s teammates trust him completely. Matt explains, “Sam is flippin’ hilarious, so even if our racer isn’t the fastest, all of the other drivers will be laughing so hard they won’t be able to drive straight!” And Amy throws in, “Heck yes, it will win! It’s a giant, evil mutant Venus Flytrap that will swallow the competition!”