SC will be represented in Red Bull’s wild soapbox race. Meet team ‘Gator Bait’
A homemade soapbox cart with an alligator motif — built, of course, by a team of friends working in South Carolina’s alligator country — is among the 50 teams from across the country that was set to compete Saturday in the wild and wacky Red Bull Soapbox Race outside of Des Moines, Iowa.
The Lowcountry-based team’s cart is aptly called “Gator Bait,” which was assembled in the garage of Beaufort couple Kody and Katelyn Wilson, who live on Brindlewood Drive. Kody is a biology and anatomy teacher at Beaufort High School, Katelyn a physical therapist.
Justin Mankita of Baltimore and Jesse and J.T. Albright, the sponsors, who own Albright Farms of Baltimore County, Maryland, also are team members.
Kody, Justin and the Albrights have been friends since their school days in the Baltimore area. The creative bunch decided to build the motorless cart and drive and fly half-way across the country to compete in the spectacle “to race cars and hit bars” — and reconnect.
“It seemed,” says Justin, “like a once in a lifetime thing.”
Red Bull promotes its energy drinks with the extreme race, which is conducted at different locations across the world, drawing thousands of fans in addition to a streaming and television audience on Red Bull TV.
Teams are judged for creativity, cart design, showmanship, a skit and race time. And although prizes and trophies are at stake, the real draw is a turn in the spotlight before screaming fans who line the course cheering every two-wheeled swerve, airborne moment and epic crash of the unusual rides.
Gator Bait team members strove to find a theme nobody had thought of. Every car has a design, they thought, but they wanted a theme. They sent drawings back and forth and the alligator idea “just snowballed quickly,” says Kody, who lives a half block from a sign near a pond that warns residents to be wary of real alligators.
“The cars that just look like cars,” Kody adds, “I don’t think people will be that excited to see.”
The front grill is painted with teeth, and a large fan is located at the back. Large helium-filled balloons, shaped like alligators, will fly behind the cart during Saturday’s race.
“Because we’re gator bait,” Kody says, “they’ll continue to chase us down the course.”
A week-and-a-half before Saturday’s race, Justin, who had flown in from Baltimore, and Kody were sweating in the muggy South Carolina heat as they finished the assembly of their 7½-foot-long, 4-foot-wide cart, which included attaching the seats and steering wheel. They took a test run down Brindlewood Drive.
“It’s all gravity powered,” Kody noted.
During the building of the cart, there were many trips to the hardware store and calls to friends with engineering backgrounds, but Justin has a good head for design and Kody is good with tools so they made a good team.
“We’re really excited,” Justin says. “We don’t think we’ve compromised at all.”
For example, the air boat floor could easily have been painted black, but instead team members took the extra step of putting down shiny metal to make it look more realistic. The cart has proper steering. And the boat builders used their heads by attaching a 2-by-3 board to drawer slides for the brakes. Who knows if they’ll need them.
Kody will drive, and Justin will be the co-pilot, focusing on interacting with the public, which is an important part of the race.
In fact, Gator Bait team members are especially interested in winning the “People’s Choice” award for their gator design because they are all about entertaining and engaging with the fans of the soapbox carts, and they need your votes. Voting is occurring on multiple platforms until race day.
Team pits open at 10 a.m. where spectators can meet the participants at the top of the course and check out their carts, and vote for the “People’s Choice” award. Team Beaufort will be tossing out alligator-shaped balloons.
The race begins at noon, with drivers navigating an obstacle in hopes of logging the fastest times. Carts, which can’t weigh more than 175 pounds and launch from a 20-foot high ramp positioned at a 30-degree angle, can reach speeds of 30 mph during the approximate quarter-of-a-mile course with turns and jumps.
“It just sends you down,” Kody says, “and flies you.”
While the good friends are looking forward to a good time, a big reason for entering the race was spending quality time together. JT recently survived a battle with cancer. Katelyn is pregnant. The timing, Justin said, just seemed right.
The friends had seen YouTube videos of the competition and thought it looked fun so they sketched a drawing and filled out an application. Only 50 are chosen so it was a long shot. Their opening line on the application was an attention-grabber: “We’re coming to race cars and hit bars.” Then they transitioned into the real reason for applying: Long-time friends who wanted to reunite. They waited. One night several weeks later, Justin and Kody were discussing the project on Facebook. An email came through. Gator Bait had been accepted in the race.
Building the cart occurred in Beaufort, Kody said, “because I have a garage.” As of last week, team members were still trying to figure out the best way to transport their creative creation the 1,100 miles from Beaufort to Iowa.
Win or lose, Gator Bait will not be making the return trip. Kody says they hope to give it away to a fan who appreciates the South Carolina sensibilities in the design.
This story was originally published June 17, 2022 at 2:37 PM.
