Teams

SCUD RUNNERS

Garage Headquarters: Naperville, IL

Driver: Mike Bowers

Mechanics: Phil Becker, Courtney Bowers, Jane Bowers, Heather Mair

Nuts and Bolts:

The towns that lie on the outskirts of Chicagoland – cities with names like Naperville, Aurora, and Crete – are typified by generous expanses of flat, grassy lawns. As a result, if you live there, chances are that you spend at least part of your free time on a riding mower. You're also likely to be familiar with funnel clouds: the Windy City's nickname is well deserved, and the municipalities on its fringes inhabit a sometimes all-too-exciting territory known to forecasters as "Tornado Alley." So perhaps it's no wonder that the "Scud Runners" team from northern Illinois plans on whirling into St. Louis like a storm cloud, racing a vehicle full of lawn-mower parts to whip the crowd into a frenzy.

"There's not much unique about our team," says Mike Bowers, who will be driving the Scud Runner with the support of friends and family members Phil Becker, Courtney Bowers, Jane Bowers, and Heather Mair. "We're probably about average for this kind of event." The group's racer is one of a kind, however. In addition to the aforementioned riding-mower components, the vehicle will be composed of a singularly odd mixture of materials. Specifically, the driver lists them as "plywood, pine wood, bicycle parts, polystyrene, rigid insulation material, and the ever-popular duct tape."