Teams

GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE NERDY

Garage Headquarters: South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City, SD

Driver: Anthony Johnson

Mechanics: Adam Doppenberg, Brett Moorman, Charlie Murray, Justin Williamson

Nuts and Bolts:

"We were looking into entering a cardboard boat race until we heard about the Red Bull Soap Box Race, so I guess you could say we jumped ship!" laughs Justin Williamson, a senior at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. With fellow seniors Anthony Johnson, Adam Doppenberg, and Brett Moorman – plus alum Charlie Murray – he'll be unveiling "the largest, fastest, and downright sweetest calculator in the history of nerds, engineers, and calculatory devices."

"We're an eclectic group from a small engineering school nestled between a rock (Mount Rushmore) and a hog place (the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally)," jokes Williamson, whose experience in national science competitions makes him a natural as team captain. Johnson, their driver, is also uniquely qualified: he races his motorcycle at speeds exceeding 150 miles per hour. Doppenberg, meanwhile, has won awards for his carpentry and is overseeing construction of "The Numerator's" wooden shell. And Moorman and Murray are vital to the effort's crowd appeal: Moorman is a popular disc jockey, while Murray has what it takes to get spectators' motors running in a different way: he was one of Cosmopolitan's Most Eligible Bachelors for 2005. "We call ourselves The Good, The Bad, and The Nerdy," Williamson notes, "and we're on a quest to put South Dakota on the map and in the Red Bull Soap Box Hall of Fame."