Teams

Rock Out With Your Falkor Out!

Garage Headquarters: Flagstaff, AZ

Driver: Jeffrey Bell

Mechanics: Aaron Bell, Brynn Dietz, Mike Perry

Nuts and Bolts:

It would seem that the members of Team Rock Out With Your Falkor Out are coming to the race in Los Angeles with a chip on their collective shoulders. “We competed in the 2008 Red Bull Soapbox Race in Denver, where Team Speed Racer also contended, and we have a score to settle with them,” says Jeffrey Bell, the Falkor captain. Narrowing his eyes, he adds, “They know what they did.” This might sound like a vendetta in the making, but Jeffrey claims nothing could be further from the truth. So then, just what is the powerful motivator that’s bringing this Arizonan 500 miles across the desert for a crazy race in the City of Angels? It’s hard to say – the last answer you’ll ever get out of Jeffrey Bell is a straight one.

Jeffrey and his sibling Aaron are “The Brothers Bell” – a duo responsible for the satirical website The Scoop News, as well as cartoons, comic books, and short comedy films and sketches. For the race on September 26, the brothers’ usual tall tales are turning into a “Neverending Story”: they have resourced just about all of the fake fur their home town of Flagstaff has to offer to create a racer in the shape of Falkor, the luckdragon character. Joining them in the fantastical effort are Matt Dunlop, who is pursuing a master’s degree from the University of Arizona, and Michael Perry, a teacher based in Pasadena. Jeffrey assesses that the group’s biggest challenge isn’t facing down Team Speed Racer – or any other entry on the roster. Rather, it’s “getting into loin-cloth shape.”