Teams

Pork Chop Express

Garage Headquarters: Levittown, PA

Driver: Jon Hansrote

Mechanics: Marc Arasim, Stephen Frazier, Amanda Heavey, Nick Jennings, Joe Micsko, Joseph Pepe

Nuts and Bolts:

ADDITIONAL MECHANICS: Keith Stallone, Angie TeBeest

Although official Red Bull Soapbox rules allow only five team members at the starting line, the “Pork Chop Express” entry has so many members that their pit may be one of the most crowded in the race. “We’ve grown up together,” says team captain Stephen Frazier of the nine-person effort. “And with one of us (Joe) leaving for Iraq in September, getting ready for the race is providing a way for all of us to meet up throughout the summer.”

These Philadelphia-area natives could have found a more aerodynamic theme, but they couldn’t have chosen a more appropriate one: their racer takes the shape of that bulbous baseball mascot known as the Phillie Phanatic. The teammates will be putting an East Coast flavor on the famed Hawaiian “Pineapple Express” by launching the “Pork Chop Express,” with the Phanatic in all his green glory cruising down The Wall on a wheeled “surfboard.” Opposing teams from outside The Cradle of Liberty may be a bit shocked to find themselves being taunted by the Express crew; but for local baseball aficionados such behavior is part of the fun when the Phanatic is afoot. In fact, all true Phillies fans will be expected to join in if it becomes necessary for the Pork Chop posse to try an old Phanatic trick and “hex” the competition!