Teams

Rollin' Troll of Fremont

Garage Headquarters: Sammamish, WA

Driver: Dave Ballas

Mechanics: Jim Agnew, Gary Ballas, Mike Ridgeway, Matt Zimney

Nuts and Bolts:

Ask Jim Agnew, Gary Ballas, Mike Ridgeway or Dave Ballas what Seattle’s most hot button issue is today, and they’ll give it to you straight. The environment? Negative. Education? No way. Taxes? Not even close. In two words: ogre obesity. Case in point – the iconic Fremont troll, who, in Ridgeway’s words, “desperately needs a change of scenery.”

Ridgeway and the Ballas brothers are former Interlake High School metal shop classmates and students of Agnew from 20 years ago. The four say they are sick of the troll being confined to his current quarters: “It’s just not cool anymore being a grumpy old troll under a bridge – he needs to be fit and active if he ever wants to score a nice ogre chick,” explains Ridgeway. With nearly a century’s worth of combined building experience, they plan to dramatically set him free with giant sledgehammers on September 29th, launching him on the run down Fremont Avenue and ready to rip through Seattle. Perhaps they should be careful what they wish for, however, before the lovable oaf grabs the attention all of the city’s eligible ladies – or Seattle may start looking more like the set of Shrek 4.