Teams

MARTA is SMARTA

Garage Headquarters: Macon, GA

Driver: Simon Radomski

Mechanics: Jeff Cozine, Joe Cunningham, Tom Radomski, Christian Yaeger

Nuts and Bolts:

The members of Team MARTA is SMARTA have experience in Formula SAE, Baja SAE, Superleague Formula, Soapbox Derby, and Pinewood Derby competitions, plus (as team captain Simon Radomski delicately puts it) “unsanctioned downhill racing.” And, being predominantly graduates of Georgia Tech, they have plenty of experience racing to catch a MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) train – or at least waiting for one to show up. So, with a wry sense of humor and a wee bit of nostalgia, the teammates, now headquartered in Macon, appropriated the transit organization’s slogan and are building a racer shaped like a subway car.

Jeff Cozine, Joe Cunningham, Simon Radomski, Tom Radomski, and Christian Yaeger – assisted behind the scenes by Marc Griswold, Juliana Groves, Nicole Havill, Kirsten Radomski, and Robert Wilmot – are attempting to replicate what Simon calls “the efficient, pleasant, and always on-schedule MARTA experience” in steel and pink foam. (Simon, what’s that you’ve got in your cheek? It looks kind of like a tongue.) Given that the teammates include five mechanical engineers and an aerospace engineer, you’d think that constructing a viable vehicle would be a piece of cake – but in fact these fast friends have to resist the urge to party whenever they get together. “We’ve got a pretty good chance if it gets built!” Simon laughs. As proof: The teammates are two-time winners of the Soap Box Race at Emory University and have also won the contest at Atlanta’s Starlight Drive-in.

(By the way, Atlantans, you might want to take a hint from this team: given the thousands of spectators expected to attend the Red Bull Soapbox Race on August 29, taking public transportation is a ridiculously good idea!)