Teams

FAMILY TRUCKSTER

Garage Headquarters: Kansas City, MO

Driver: Matt Hall

Mechanics: Dustin Giles, Jim Hall, Mike Hobick, Chuck Svoboda

Nuts and Bolts:

"We are dead serious about this thing," declares Chuck Svoboda in regard to the Red Bull Soapbox Race. "The five of us realize the amount of work that it will take, but we are dead set on building this car, putting on a great show, and winning." Besides Chuck, who is an engineer, "we" consists of Dustin Giles (also an engineer), Mike Hobick (an amateur artist), Matt Hall (a motorcycle racer), and Jim Hall (who manages Matt's racing team and fabricates parts for the bikes). The "car" is "The Family Truckster," a vehicle sure to evoke some double takes as it rolls down the track.

"Our original blueprint was good, but outrageous is better, so collectively we drew up the idea for the car to go backwards," explains Chuck, who is pursuing an MBA at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The scary-sounding concept doesn't seem to daunt Matt, who will be taking the wheel. As a longtime friend of the motorcycle racer, Chuck sheds some light on his driver's mindset: "During one contest, Matt crashed, and ended up with a titanium plate in his shoulder. Then he crashed again, and bent the plate." There's more. "Oh, and has nine fake teeth," Chuck chortles, "knocked out by a motorcycle."