Teams

Rhode Island Reds

Garage Headquarters: Providence, RI

Driver: Stewart Martin

Mechanics: Greg Hancox, Jack Crow, Alan Sorrentino

Nuts and Bolts:

Jack Crow, Greg Hancox, and Stewart Martin intend to raise a big flap at the Red Bull Soapbox Race on October 13. They unabashedly, unashamedly admit that in an attempt to vanquish their competitors on College Hill, they've formulated a gameplan most fowl. They're going to give everybody the bird.

That would be a chicken, of course. A very special chicken. "The Rhode Island Red is our state bird," says team captain Greg Hancox of the red-feathered inspiration for their racer design. Hancox, a science teacher, and second-grade teacher Jack Crow, and photographer Stewart Martin are birds of a feather – friends and neighbors who share a strong love for animals and an equally powerful imaginative impulse. At press time, they were still dreaming up poultry-related strategies, but the list already included chicken music, chicken sound effects, the chicken dance, chicken eggs spewing from their car, and, in case anyone in the crowd gets peckish, chicken-wing hors d'oeuvres.