Teams

Deuces Wild

Garage Headquarters: Swampscott, MA

Driver: Eric "Erv" Gemme

Mechanics: Dan "Jokes" Baker, Will "Flippy" Thiel, Adam " Fattam" Eschner, Andrew "Bonesaw"Leugers

Nuts and Bolts:

When it came down to the final heat at Red Bull Soapbox Race in Providence last year, Team Deuces Wild had a chance to take it all. But to hear the teammates tell it today, they threw the race. “We totally sandbagged because the runners-up got to go rally racing, and we wanted to do that instead of taking the first-place prize,” says Dan Baker, a 25-year-old consultant who was raised in Pennsylvania but now makes his home in Swampscott, Massachusetts. Whether Dan’s tale is true or not, he captained an impressive effort on that epic day, and he’s back with his buddies to launch another Deuces Wild entry in Philadelphia.

With Dan in Manayunk will be seasoned Soapbox veterans Adam Eschner, Eric Gemme, and Will Thiel, as well as a new teammate, former Philadelphian Andrew Leugers. And while last year their concept involved racing a toilet, this year their theme is immature in a more literal sense: their racer will look like a baby buggy. To be sure, this is going to be one pimped-out perambulator. Besides standard features like a blankie, teddy bear, and retractable sunshade (“for baby’s comfort”), the Deuces Wild stroller will come packed with extras like front-wheel brakes, a bitchin’ air intake, and spinners on the wheels. “Our skit will involve booties, bonnets, and gratuitous violence,” Dan vows, “plus the ever-popular sight of men in diapers.”