Teams

Tomb Raiders

Garage Headquarters: Victor, NY

Driver: Alan Ryon

Mechanics: Randy Ryon, Robert Ryon, Matt Kirk, Dave D'Angelantonio

Nuts and Bolts:

It’s not easy being the Red Bull Soapbox Race wild card team. Sure, it’s gratifying to be the sole entry selected by a popular online vote open to people around the world. But because the wild card is the last entry to be announced, other teams have a head start of several weeks. Bob Ryon, captain of the Tomb Raiders entry that won the Providence wild card slot, sees a silver lining, however. He thinks the crowd will be behind his crew. “We’re the underdogs,” he explains. “Almost everyone likes to root for the underdog, don’t you think?” Given the attendance for these kinds of events (spectators at August’s Red Bull Flugtag human-powered flight contest in Texas numbered over 85,000), audience support could well make the difference on race day.

Bob, an Army veteran and student at Monroe Community College, is joined in the Tomb Raiders effort by his dad Randy, his brother Alan, and their friends Dave D’Angelantonio and Matt Kirk. They’re building their racer version of King Tut’s golden sarcophagus at the Ryons’ basement workshop in – could this be a sign? – the town of Victor, New York. Bob says, “We’re all excited for the race to get here, despite the fact that we have our work cut out for us!”