Teams

Bonneville Record Holders, DBA The Salty Flats

Garage Headquarters: Denver, CO

Driver: Loren Brinton

Mechanics: John Williams, Eric Perkins, Steve Harris, Shane Young

Nuts and Bolts:

When Loren Brinton was a kid, he competed in soapbox races – and never lost a contest. Now 25, he works in marketing for a Denver company called Display Devices, which designs, engineers, and manufactures audio-visual support products. With the encouragement of Display Devices general manager Eric Perkins, as well as co-workers Steve Harris (a welder) and John Williams (an engineer), Loren is going to try to extend his winning streak all the way into adulthood by contending in the Red Bull Soapbox Race.

These guys have a blast on the job. “We like building fun things with our really expensive machines,” Loren says. Granted, sometimes they get a little carried away with their tools – like the time Steve welded shut the doors to Loren’s daily driver as a joke – but hey, soapbox cars don’t need functional doors, and having a sixty-thousand-square-foot metal shop at their disposal after work is a definite advantage. Another advantage is their fifth teammate, Shane Young, who, as a hand model (no kidding), knows a little something about presentation, and seems immune to the endless teasing of his buddies. “The inspiration for our design is a 1932 salt flat racer,” Loren comments. “We think it’ll be exquisite – almost as exquisite as Shane’s hands.” The racer’s design incorporates a very special good luck charm: the wheels and axels from Loren’s original childhood car.