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Team Orcs and Dorks is jubilant following a third cleared ramp during the Red Bull Soapbox Utah races Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Salt Lake City.

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A driver catches a quick drink before kicking off the Red Bull Soapbox Utah races Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Salt Lake City.

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A team launches its ambulance-themed cart during the Red Bull Soapbox Utah races Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Salt Lake City.

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Three ramps rest idle during the Red Bull Soapbox Utah races Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Salt Lake City.

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Team Heidi's Hooligans clears a second ramp during the Red Bull Soapbox Utah races Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Salt Lake City.

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Team Powder Pioneers loses its front tires during the Red Bull Soapbox Utah races Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Salt Lake City.

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A young spectator looks on during the Red Bull Soapbox Utah races Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Salt Lake City.

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A team makes its way down Main Street during the Red Bull Soapbox Utah races Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Salt Lake City.

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Team Orcs and Dorks clears a second ramp during the Red Bull Soapbox Utah races Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Salt Lake City.

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Team Spacestation hangs on tight during the Red Bull Soapbox Utah races Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Salt Lake City.

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Team Orcs and Dorks is jubilant following a third cleared ramp during the Red Bull Soapbox Utah races Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Salt Lake City.

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A view of the finish line downtown during the Red Bull Soapbox Utah races Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Salt Lake City.

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SALT LAKE CITY — More than 50 themed-cars ripped down Capitol Hill at the first-ever Red Bull Soapbox Utah races over the weekend, but only one Ogden-area team, “Orcs and Dorks,” took home the Maverik Fuel for Adventure award Saturday.

Traveling down from Pleasant View, Team Orcs and Dorks — comprised of Hyrum Briscoe, Andrew Egbert, Marrissa Park, Scott Park and Tory Johnson — claimed one of five awards handed out by the judges panel for their “Grond the Gate Smasher” vehicle modeled off the wolf-like battering ram of the same name from the “Lord of the Rings” franchise.

While several cars met tragic fates, splintering and collapsing mid-race, the Dorks not only finished the strenuous, downward course feeding from Capitol Hill into downtown, but even triggered a strong crowd reaction upon initially low scores by the judge panel.

“I am so proud of the team, everyone came in and gave it their all,” Briscoe said. “We weren’t the fastest, but the crowd loved the theme, the costumes and the cart. We would love to do it again! Here’s hoping they come back to Utah.”

First-place winners, the “Desert Rats” of Kanab, claimed first overall; the “Billy Groats” of North Salt Lake took second place; the “Seussual Suspects” of Salt Lake City placed third; “Not So Evel Knievel” of Denver won the Smith’s Fastest Speed Winner award (29 mph).

The race, comprised of non-motorized carts since its introduction in 2000, consisted of teams as east as North Carolina on Saturday, as each crew, made up of five members, was judged one-third on speed, one-third on creativity and one-third on showmanship. The official list of Utah teams debuted in May, with Salt Lake City breaking the record for U.S. entries in a single Red Bull Soapbox racing event.

Red Bull Soapbox Race is a race of nonmotorized carts down a custom course that consists of turns, jumps and obstacles. Teams of up to five members must perform a skit before propelling their cart down the course. Their driver then navigates obstacles in hopes of logging the fastest times. Creative themes are displayed from a variety of unique homemade soapbox carts

An estimated 50,000 attendees descended on downtown Salt Lake City for the event, according to a Red Bull press release. Attendees filled the east and west sides of Main Street, with hay barriers and steel partitions separating fans from the course itself.

But a few teams put such safeguards to the test.

First among the Ogden-area teams, Layton’s “Spacestation” crossed the finish line but not without leaving a few exterior panels on the course; West Haven’s “Powder Pioneers” watched their front axle collapse after just a couple of obstacles.

Elsewhere, “Heidi’s Hooligans,” the Swiss Alps-themed vehicle driven by Kyle Stringham and family, brought enough size to outlast any physical barriers. Midway down the course, Stringham and the Hooligans flew through the man-made barriers and collided with the media pit.

Determined, Stringham pulled the vehicle from the debris and pushed on. Stringham and his younger brother, Bryce, placed the concern of a crash atop their list during the building phase.

“I tried to go cheap at first and get a normal go-kart frame and go off that,” Tyler Stringham said on June 6. “These guys were down to build the Raleigh 5000 vehicle.”

“What we pulled off on the front end (is) unbelievable,” Bryce Stringham added. “A lot of the carts you see are bicycle tires, people making a platform and just throwing wheels on it, but for a shotgun, as Tyler puts it, the engineering that’s gone into it is pretty impressive.”

The Standard-Examiner took a look at the construction of all four Ogden-area vehicles leading up to race day.

Red Bull Soapbox continues its U.S. trek in Los Angeles on July 19.

Connect with sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.