Teams

Team Blowhole

Garage Headquarters: Stanford, KY

Driver: Shane Lotta

Mechanics: Matt Estes, Hayden Grubbs, Tyler Wilkinson, Shane Lotta

Nuts and Bolts:

Not too many team captains look forward to Red Bull Soapbox Cincinnati 2008 and think, “Man, I hope we really blow out there.” Yet, Matt Estes hopes that his squad blows harder than all the competition combined. “We were sitting around in class thinking of animals to use as an idea,” says the skipper of Orca-inspired Team Blowhole. “We thought of a killer whale because it owns the ocean, just like we will own the race.” Big talk, but can these five college students from Kentucky muster the ferocious killer instinct of their namesake? “We have never competed in anything like this,” Matt concedes. “We have watched many races on YouTube and seen some on TV.”

On October 4, we’ll see how well the film studies paid off for the undergrads, who collectively represent Campbellsville University, Western Kentucky University, Centre College, Bluegrass Community and Technical College and Spenserian College. Although they spend most of their time on campus, these guys have picked up some serious street savvy. Discussing Team Blowhole’s plans to win the People’s Choice Award, Matt says, “We will make t-shirts or bracelets to be thrown out. We can definitely pump up the crowd.” It’s good to know that even if they fail to win it all, these guys have some serious event-marketing chops to fall back on.