Teams

Feel the Rythm, Feel the Rhyme

Garage Headquarters: Philadelphia, PA

Driver: Patrick Dougherty

Mechanics: Kevin McCarthy, Jerry Bidus, Joe Durkin, Kevin Thomer

Nuts and Bolts:

“To me, Red Bull Soapbox Race means risking life and limb for 45 seconds of terrifying fame,” says Patrick Dougherty, a La Salle University student who will pilot the racer for a team called Feel the Rhythm, Feel the Rhyme. Fortunately, Patrick seems to be able to laugh in the face of danger – he, his fellow student Dennis Sheehan, and their teammates Joe Durkin and Kevin McCarthy will be launching a “bobsled” down Lyceum Avenue to close out their summer.

These self-described “pale white Irishmen” will don dreads under their helmets to portray the athletes of the 1993 sleeper hit “Cool Runnings,” based on the real-life story of the first Jamaican bobsled team to make it to the Winter Olympics. On weekends and twice a week after work, the Soapbox teammates are gathering at a garage in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood to build their metal racer and paint it with the colors of the Jamaican flag. Behind its humor, the clever concept holds genuine potential to clock a radical time. A soapbox car and a bobsled aren’t that different, after all – and Joe’s knowledge as an engineer and Kevin’s skill as a carpenter/boat refurbisher are playing a key role in making the vehicle race-worthy. “Just like in bobsledding, gaining speed from the start will be critical,” Patrick notes, “but I think we will win. Absolutely.”