Teams

SEMI-COHERENT

Garage Headquarters: St. Louis, MO

Driver: Joe Millitzer

Mechanics: Nick Eaton, Katie Johannes, Ron Parres, Riana Spencer

Nuts and Bolts:

The members of Team Semi-Coherent are gym rats and great friends. "We're a diverse group of artists and alumni from Webster University, including a sculptor, a filmmaker, a mechanical engineer, and a teacher," says Joe Millitzer, the group's spokesperson. "And all of us are gym regulars."

The folks in this crew enjoy working their minds as well as their bodies. Katie Johannes, for example, teaches aerobics by day and is an artist at night. As a participant in the "Art and Sole" event held in conjunction with the St. Louis Marathon, she created eight-foot paintings that served as a mile marker for the race. Millitzer's 9-to-5 entails producing station promotions for KPLR, but he spends his evenings making independent films, often with the assistance of his "Semi-Coherent" cohorts. (Remember, that's the name of their entry, not an assessment of their lucidity.) The five friends have been meeting at an art studio in the historic Soulard district to build their tongue-in-cheek racer. Inspired by a series of "rockin' road trips" they took over the summer, it's styled like an eighteen-wheeler and will be presented by "synchronized dancing truckers" and "girls in hot pants." Of course, it's a shameless ploy to capture the attention of the crowd. As Millitzer comments, "Who doesn't like truckers?"