Meet the Teams from Melbourne

The 2011 Fireball Run lineup will include two teams from the Melbourne area, both of which are sponsored by the Space Coast Office of Tourism. Team Florida Tech is made up of two of the university’s very own, Dean of the College of Aeronautics Winston Scott and Assistant VP of Marketing Jennifer Neuhard. Team Space Coast is NASCAR great Geoff Bodine and Christine Michaels, president and CEO of the Melbourne Regional Chamber.

Team Florida Tech has got both the Space Coast connection and an out-of-this-world connection in Winston Scott. In addition to heading the university’s prestigious College of Aeronautics, Scott is a former fighter pilot and space shuttle astronaut who has logged more than 5,000 hours of flight time and over 24 days in space, giving him the keen navigation, driving and problem-solving skills it’s going to take to succeed in the 2011 Fireball Run. (His connections with NASA and the International Space Station may come in handy as well!)

With teammate Jennifer Neuhard’s help, Scott is turning the Florida Tech campus into a virtual Mission Control focused in part on helping the pair solve the challenges they face while on the road, but primarily on spreading awareness about Journey and Trust Everitt, the missing children the team hopes to help locate during their expedition. She is effectively mobilizing Florida Tech students, faculty and staff in support of the “Race to Recover America’s Missing Children.”

Team Space Coast consists of NASCAR legend Geoff Bodine and champion of the greater Melbourne business community, Christine Michaels. Bodine, who has been named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers and holds the Guinness World Record for most modified race wins in one season, is sure to give the Florida Tech Team and all the other Fireball Run competitors the race of a lifetime … even though speeding is against the rules.

Come out and support your Melbourne teams in downtown Melbourne on Sept. 24, 2011!