Teams

Dr. Strangebox

Garage Headquarters: Burlington, VT

Driver: Colin Hutchens

Mechanics: Matt Cole, Shanta Keller, Jamie Seiffer, Andy Touchette

Nuts and Bolts:

“We were in the Soapbox in Providence and had one of the most spectacular crashes of the event,” says University of Vermont student Colin Hutchens. As skiers and snowboarders, Colin and his teammates Matt Cole, Shanta Keller, Jamie Seiffer, and Andy Touchette know that crashing is a chance they have to take in any downhill race. And they’ll be giving their all again in Philadelphia, this time with an entry called “Dr. Strangebox or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Soapbox Race.”

“Our car is based on the movie ‘Dr. Strangelove,’ specifically the scene when Major ‘King’ Kong rides the bomb down to Russia,” explains Colin, the team’s driver. “We’re building it in the machine shop in the Votey Building of UVM with the great Floyd Vilmont.” (Floyd is head of the university’s prototype lab.) The effort is just one of the teammates’ many activities, which include serving in organizations like Engineers Without Boarders, the UVM chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and FeelGood (a nonprofit with the goal of ending world hunger). Add classes and sports to the mix, and it’s clear that this group will probably have to pull all-nighters to finish construction. But that’s just the way they roll. As Colin sums up, “This race is all about fun times with fun people and too much energy.”