Teams

Fire on the Mountain

Garage Headquarters: University of Rochester (NY)

Driver: Will Archambault

Mechanics: Eric Fischer,, Nick Brown,Chase Henson, Travis Buttaccio,Mike Levine, Mike Levine,Ezra Milby, Alejandro Campos,Henry Park, Dan Chebot,Mike Willet

Nuts and Bolts:

“I saw the soapbox competition in St. Louis last year, and the energy was amazing. Everybody was having a great time and had clearly put a lot of effort into their crafts,” says Dan Chebot, captain of the Soapbox Providence team called “Fire on the Mountain.” Armed with that inspiration, Chebot and his classmates from the University of Rochester’s mechanical engineering class of 2009 (plus a faculty advisor or two) are building a vehicle that they hope will dominate College Hill on October 13. “Most of us participate in obscure things on campus, such as the TV station, cross country team, ultimate Frisbee, swim team, stage crew, and so on,” Chebot comments. “There are definitely no dull people in this group. Everybody is a character!”

Everyone on the well-rounded crew is also seriously into engineering, of course, which meant that several teammates worked on concepts for their racer throughout the summer break in order to hit the ground running when they gathered at the Engineering Department’s machine shop in the fall for construction. They’ve also been practicing a top-secret skill that, while it may not make their car faster, is sure to dazzle the spectators on hand. Chebot promises, “It’s going to be an electrifying show.”