Teams

FAST FOOD

Garage Headquarters: Sturtevant, WI

Driver: Kai McNulty

Mechanics: Sam Boettcher, Brian Holst, Mike McNulty, Troy Stark

Nuts and Bolts:

When it comes to racing, Kai McNulty is an old hand. He used to compete on dirt tracks so much that he got the nickname "Kai O.D." ("On Dirt"). He says, "It sounds like 'coyote,' hence my mascot."

But McNulty doesn't only race vehicles. For more than a decade he's been designing and building them, too. In fact, work on his Red Bull Soapbox Race entry is taking him away from a mini-Indy car project. Constructing the human-powered racer shouldn't distract McNulty for long, however, because he's got a great support team to help with the build. "My team members have all served as my pit crew over the years. We met in high school, lost touch, and then met up again years later when I got a job working for Vobeda Machine & Tool," he explains, referring to the company he and his buddies will represent on race day. (Based in Racine, Wisconsin, Vobeda is a design, build, and repair resource for die cast and plastic mold–making needs.) McNulty laughs when he relates that in their off hours, he and his skilled posse invent and construct "weird and crazy things both for fun and for racing." Among them: motorized barstools.