Teams

Chick Magnet

Garage Headquarters: Los Angeles, CA

Driver: Ryan Sanderson

Mechanics: Cody Barajas, Robbie Brown, Wyatt Vandergeest, Ashby Whorf

Nuts and Bolts:

Los Angeles resident Ryan Sanderson is a Red Bull Soapbox Race junkie. In 2006, he competed in the first United States event, held in the shadow of the St. Louis arch, and last year he rolled into contention again, crossing an entire continent to show his stuff at the contest in Providence. This time, he’ll get a chance to see what racing at altitude is like, as he takes his “Chick Magnet” team to Red Rocks Park.

Ryan is an artist who has been crafting props and scenery for the film industry for over a decade. His soapbox teammates Cody Barajas and Ashby Whorf also work in the film business, while Robbie Brown and Wyatt Vandergeest, who round out the crew, make their living as a boat dealership proprietor and a tattoo artist, respectively. They’re building their racer – shaped like a chick that’s been fed a few too many hormones in its non-free-range diet – at Ryan’s shop, which has everything they could possibly need, down to an inspirational brood of chickens that regularly clucks its way down the adjacent alley. The biggest challenge for Team Chick Magnet is going to be getting their funny fowl across the desert and mountains to reach Denver. As for facing their competitors, however, the Californians are far from…well…chicken. Ryan warns, “You mess with the chicken, you get the beak!”