Teams

TEAM Pac-Man

Garage Headquarters: West Chicago, IL

Driver: Matt Mukenschnabl

Mechanics: Sean Blumenschein, Evan Davis, Leigh Rosales, Mark Palazzo

Nuts and Bolts:

“Our skit will be Pac-Man themed,” says team captain Matt Mukenschnabl. “It starts when I stumble upon a Pac-Man arcade console. Eager to play the best game ever, I quickly reach for a quarter from my pocket and drop it into the game. Nothing happens.” Although Matt becomes so frustrated that he repeatedly kicks the game consol, the malfunctioning machine actually proves a blessing in disguise. For one thing, the current world record for the fastest perfect game of Pac-Man stands at three hours and forty-two minutes. Secondly, Matt’s foot-first assault on the machine results in a freewheeling good time when the ghosts who live inside come out to see what all the ruckus is about. Unimpressed with the sight of Matt kicking in their home, Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde commence to do what they do best: chase the good guy.

Matt makes his escape via a racer built from fiberglass and aluminum to resemble the big yellow arcade icon himself. Feeding on an unending string of pac-dots, Matt will ride the big fella toward the finish line with the baddies in hot pursuit. Sure, Matt won’t have the chance to score the 3,333,360 points needed for a perfect game of Pac-Man, but he and his crew will happily settle for getting to the finish line more quickly than anyone else.