There’s no place like 1st

Toto’s Escape is going somewhere over the rainbow — and down the starting ramp.

The team of friends will take their Tin Man-inspired soapbox car to downtown Los Angeles today to compete in the Red Bull Soapbox Race 2009.

Along with more than 40 other teams, Toto’s Escape will strive to win a VIP NASCAR trip with the Red Bull Racing Team, along with lots of other prizes.

The most important prize, of course, is bragging rights.

Toto’s Escape will be competing against everything from a replica of the “Speed Racer” Mach 5 to a soapbox car made to look like a dormitory bunk bed.

The teams were not given the chance to try out the full route before their run today.

“It’s one shot to glory,” said driver Mike Belair, of Costa Mesa.

The team’s choice to pay homage to the 70th anniversary of a classic film was a no-brainer, they said.

“We’re doing the ‘Wizard of Oz’ for a few reasons,” Belair said.

“We were up one night trying to think of themes, and it was so obvious,” team member Michelle Curtis said.

“It’s been my favorite movie since probably elementary school.”

She wore red ruby slippers down the aisle to her marriage this spring to car fabricator Geoff Curtis.

The pair left their wedding to the strains of “Over the Rainbow.” Their bathroom is an homage to the film.

‘The fastest down the hill’

“We’ve built a bad-ass car,” Belair said. “I’d be really surprised if somebody could beat us in speed.”

The Tin Man was made to be like a real race-car, from the top-of-the-line cantilevered suspension to the disc brakes.

“Nobody’s ever really done suspension on a soapbox car before,” Belair said.

Small expenditures quickly snowballed into a concept that cost more than $1,500.

The frame was based on Formula One race-car designs. The soapbox car has no engine, but the driver can steer and brake.

Belair’s even taken the Tin Man off a 10-inch jump. The car’s skin is all-aluminum, and rivet-type screws make it resemble the Tin Man more closely.

“We just want to win, and we’re doing everything we can to make sure our car is the fastest down the hill as possible,” Belair said. “We’re also trying to do everything possible so people really feel it’s the Tin Man when they see it.”

Another stroke of genius came when Curtis designed a helmet for Belair.

The heart-shaped clock helmet evokes the heart given in the film by the Wizard to the Tin Man.

The car has seen speeds of at least 55 mph on practice runs, including one legendary close call near Crown Valley Parkway in Laguna Niguel.

“The brakes immediately overheated,” Belair said. “I ended up cutting left and making a right up the curb to avoid traffic.”

Rather than take a step back after the experience, Belair was elated at the speeds he was able to achieve.

“Who needs a soapbox car that can do 60 or 70 miles per hour? We do,” Belair said. “I always love going go-cart racing and all that, but nothing’s ever fast enough for me.”

Teams get points for showmanship, as well as speed and creativity. While not in operation today, the soapbox car will sit on a yellow brick road, set atop a stretch of Astroturf. A backdrop depicting poppy fields and the Emerald City will complete the pastiche.

The group will be bedecked in full costume, from an “adult” Dorothy to a fur-covered Cowardly Lion. Their skit before their soapbox is sent off has been perfectly choreographed, down to the Pink Floyd song that will impress die-hard fans. A tiny stuffed Toto attaches to the front of the car with magnets.

“I think we have a damn good chance at impressing the judges,” Belair said.

Born to ride

The design and fabrication come courtesy of team member Geoff Curtis.

“Geoff is just phenomenally talented when it comes to creating and building things,” Belair said. “He works for a concept car company in Huntington Beach.”

Belair is a Costa Mesa resident who grew up in Huntington Beach. The team’s “flying monkey,” Ray Trevorrow, went to Laguna Beach High School.

Belair and Curtis met while working on “Overhaulin’,” an automotive reality show on the TLC network.

When the show ended last year, Curtis took a job at a custom car company. The situation was perfect for the friends to enter the Red Bull Soapbox Race. As soon as they heard about it, the applied to be in the 2008 race in San Francisco.

They weren’t accepted, but the frame for their Jack Daniel’s bottle soapbox car was already completed, Belair said.

“We thought, ‘What can we do next year that would include what we already have started?’” he said.

Curtis saw their rejection that year as a blessing in disguise; the things he’s learned since starting his new job have been integral in their current soapbox’s success, the team said.

“You can’t ask for more,” Belair said. “It opened up a whole new world for us. There’s no way we would have ever gotten done in time last year.”

The team’s already talking about ideas for next year’s soapbox car, from the suspension to the theme.

But today, all their thoughts will be on the race.