Teams

Keep It Wheel

Garage Headquarters: Jacksonville, FL

Driver: Matt Bort

Mechanics: Josh Dunn, John O’Brian, Jack Twachtman, Chris Williams

Nuts and Bolts:

Why did Matt Bort, Josh Dunn, John O’Brian, Jack Twachtman, and Chris Williams enter the Red Bull Soapbox Race? John, the captain of Team Keep It Wheel, has a simple answer. He says, “It was a reason to build a brain on wheels and push it down a hill.” It’s not as weird as it sounds: The five Floridians are representative members of a great, collectively run nonprofit bike shop in Jacksonville, Zombie Bikes. They’re also involved in Burro Bags, an enterprise in the same building that produces outstanding bike messenger bags and screen-printed products. These twenty-somethings are in the bicycle gear business because they like cycling so much themselves – having built lots of “weird” bikes as participants in Zombie Bikes’ bike club, they didn’t see anything particularly odd about using chicken wire and papier mâché to shape a soapbox racer into a macabre brain shape.

“In the skit, our driver Matt will be escaping from the rest of us dressed as zombies, most likely to some sludgy stoner metal,” John laughs. “If he crashes, it’s no big deal – he’s already missing three of his front teeth.” Clearly, this is a unique crew. Josh intentionally boasts the longest mullet in the greater Jacksonville area, and John himself is recognizable by his tattoo of boiled peanuts. “That’s right, we’re going to win the People’s Choice award with our crazy antics and boyish good looks,” he nods. “As to whether our car will be the fastest…well, anything’s possible!”