Teams

Ride the Lightning

Garage Headquarters: Rockaway, NJ

Driver: Russell Jones

Mechanics: Vegas Lancaster, Sarah Sickels, Peter Zahuta

Nuts and Bolts:

If Ben Franklin were still walking the streets of Philadelphia today, you can bet he’d invent a revolutionary soapbox racer. Peter Zahuta, Vegas Lancaster, Sarah Sickels, and Russell Jones will try to harness that same electric spirit when they “Ride the Lightning” on September 6. The four friends are college students, with Peter studying mechanical engineering at Villa Nova and the rest pursuing philosophy, biology, and mechanical engineering (respectively) at The College of New Jersey in Ewing. “We all live in New Jersey, but love Philadelphia,” says Russell, the group’s driver. “For the engineers on our team, the race is a chance to use knowledge that we’ve picked up in our classes; and for the rest, it provides a chance to take hobbies, such as colonial re-enactment or a fascination with historical figures, in a new direction.”

Despite their limited student budget, the teammates are scrapping together a racer based on Franklin’s famous experiment with a kite and a key. Sarah is making period Colonial costumes, but the team certainly isn’t restricting themselves to period materials for their vehicle. The soapbox car will be built out of hollow, square metal tubing and whatever inexpensive space-age polymers they can find – and, with scientific rigor that Franklin would approve, the build schedule allows a full month for testing. “Of course,” Russell states, “we think we will win.”