Red Bull rolled into San Francisco this weekend with an entourage of hand-crafted, human-powered cars resembling a frying pan, a baseball, a toaster, a rocket, and perhaps the biggest craft-a giant Rubik’s Cube.

SF State cinema major Chris Foley, 22, is the brain behind the giant cube, which he promised would solve itself on the way down Dolores Street at the Red Bull Soapbox Race on Oct. 18.

“It all started with a group invite on Facebook to a Red Bull Soapbox thing,” Foley said. “I researched it and found out they were still taking applications.”

Foley said he was interested in being part of the race, and commissioned his old roommate, Brian Rasmusen, 21, for help.

“I drew up a rudimentary design," Rasmussen said. “I started with a cube, drew on all the squares, and then added wheels coming out of the bottom. After that we came up with dimensions for it and began putting it together.”

Team Rubik’s Cube was one of approximately 35 teams chosen out of more than 200 applicants to compete in the San Francisco derby.

The boys needed one more person to join the team and build the puzzle cube. So they asked business and hospitality management major Brett First, 21, to be “the muscle.”

“I guess I’m sort of considered the muscle of the team,” First said. “I’m not the best with math, but I’m the builder. I painted the whole cube, and did three coats of primer on more than 50 pieces of wood and 38 cubes. I helped with the steering mechanism, which we picked up off of a little girl’s bicycle. It’s called ‘Glamour Girl.’”

The team spent more than 130 hours building the cube in Sacramento, and focused more on style and creativity than they did on speed.

“I don’t want to whiz down this course hella fast,” Foley said. “I want to take my time so that people can see me. I want to go slow so that people can notice my Rubik’s Cube and watch it solve.”

Foley can actually solve a real Rubik’s Cube in less than 60 seconds. He began playing with them in high school after receiving one as a gift from his mother.

“To solve a Rubik’s Cube there are certain algorithms and mathematical equations or sequences and turns that you do to move the pieces into certain places,” he said. “I never knew any of that and it took me three months to solve it by myself. Now I can do it in about 35-40 seconds on a good day. I take it with me everywhere I go.”

Although the team didn’t focus on speed, they still had a shot at winning. More than anything, the team wanted to win the People’s Choice Award, which the crowd votes on through text-messaging. According to Scott Houston, the regional communications manager for Red Bull, judging is based on three criteria.

“The judging is based on showmanship, creativity, and their race time,” Houston, 32, said. “Creativity is based by the judges who will look at the overall build of the craft, the theme, and the design. Showmanship will be based on the 30-second skit and run of the course—if anything fun or interesting happens along the course.”

The course was run along Dolores Street in San Francisco’s Mission District, beginning at 21st Street and ending at 18th.

“it’s basically a straight course with some slight slalom to it,” Houston said. “There is one area where they have the choice to go over a jump, and for those that aren’t as brave, they can around what we call ‘Sally Alley,’ and corner out from that.”

Initially Team Rubik’s Cube had decided to not go for the jump because the craft was too big. But while waiting in the starting line at 1:54 p.m. on Saturday, they changed their mind.

“We really cannot be the only ones to not go over the jump,” First said. “We’re going to go ahead and give the crowd what they want and more.”

Foley, the cube’s driver, went for the jump, and they made it successfully.

“We knew the cube would break but we got up and everybody went off the jump, so we had to go off the jump,” Foley said. “So we just jumped, leaned back, and sure enough the wheels just came all the way up on the inside and the whole front bar started scraping all the way down and we just hit a bump around that last turn.”

The entire front of the cube was sitting on the asphalt, forcing the boys to finish the course on foot.

Despite finishing the race on foot, Team Rubik’s Cube won the People’s Choice Award.

“That’s all we wanted to do in this race,” Rasmusen said. “That was our goal from the very beginning. We won by six votes.”

“We didn’t even make it down the hill,” First said. “We went off the jump even though we said we weren’t going to. But no matter what, we were here for the People’s Choice, and we got the People’s Choice. We just wanted everyone to love us.”