Teams

Team Mario Kart

Garage Headquarters: Cincinnati, OH

Driver: Tommy Chou

Mechanics: Tommy Chou, Tom Wadkins, Eric Vu, Jessie Catenacci

Nuts and Bolts:

If you think two mustachioed plumbers, an otherworldly princess and an egg-laying baby dinosaur make for a unique team, you ain’t seen nothing yet. When Mario Kart ’08 assemble at the Mount Adams starting line to pay homage to Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi and the rest of the Mario Kart gang, you’re going to see a stunningly diverse group. “We’re English, Irish, German, Italian, Taiwanese and Vietnamese from Minnesota, Texas, Dayton and Cincinnati,” says captain Tom Wadkins. Wait -- it gets better. “We throw dances in our studio and shake the floor with our music,” Tom says. “Our other activities include film making, climbing in and on buildings, and crab soccer.”
So racing at breakneck speeds through hairpin turns is just par for the course, then? “We all started in architecture,” Tom answers. “Tommy recently switched to psychology, so maybe he can tell us why we want to hurtle down hills on a chair with wheels. We’re large kids, with bigger toys and a correspondingly smaller sense of risk.” The University of Cincinnati sophomores chose to emulate Mario Kart because, Tom explains, “Everyone played Mario Kart as a kid. Getting to see their favorite characters again and watching Mario tear up the course (and possibly the kart) should get everyone pumped!”