Teams

THE DEAD SLED

Garage Headquarters: Glenview, IL

Driver: Kevin Shea

Nuts and Bolts:

When the Red Bull Flugtag human-powered flight competition was held in Chicago in 2003, Team Kickin' Chicken held the lead from 9am until 4pm, only to fall to third in the final moments of the contest. Nonetheless, that chicken is still kickin' – in a new format and with a new name – as four representatives of the team head for St. Louis to drive a racer they call "The Dead Sled." "Eighteen years ago, we were high school friends in Wilmette, Illinois, with big ideas and no clue about life," says team captain Michael Hogg. "We're still just as nuts, but successful." At Forest Park, they'll be inducting a newbie into their circle – a buddy named Bob whom they met on a rock-climbing expedition. "He's the real crackerjack," Hogg says happily. "If it's fast, he's either had one or modified it, welded it or blew it up." The team leader goes on to describe The Dead Sled blueprint, noting, "Our design has a very low center of gravity; the weight is concentrated just in front of the rear wheels." Those wheels will in fact be racing slicks, and the shell of the vehicle will be composed of layup foam core, "much like the latest surfboard technology."