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A Tour of Fall-Line Motorsports
“So, if money was no object…”
by Pablo Mazlumian
If you like Porsches, BMWs, boosted imports, domestics and all-out racecars, check this out. We take a MotoIQ exclusive tour of one of the titans of racecar fabrication, Fall-Line Motorsports, based right outside of Chicago. Oh my…
As you browse through this, keep in mind three things. First, I won't be able to show you everything I'd like because, not only would it overload servers, but also because there are some details—specifically on some racecars—that we were not allowed to publish.
Second, this facility is one of three that Fall-Line has. The other two include a large storage facility near Chicago, and another 30,000 square foot location at the Autobahn Country Club (yeah, a private track) with a couple dozen more racecars and three full-time mechanics and employees. Crazy, but by the end you'll probably forget I mentioned it.
Third, Fall-Line's shop manager, Tim Stratton, had no idea I was coming to do an article. In fact, neither did I. On a last minute trip to Chicago for something unrelated, I found myself at the shop, and thankfully with my camera. So, everything you see here is how it is on a daily basis, and the rest is history I won't soon forget. Fall Line is a shop that “prides itself on racing within the rules” says Stratton.
If you've never heard of Fall-Line Motorports, it's a racecar fabrication company for club racers. It also fields its own professional racing team in the televised Grand Am race series, where three E92 BMW M3s are run in the Continental Tire GS class. I popped in on a Sunday, the same weekend the team was racing at the Barber Motorsports complex in Atlanta.
The Grand Am cars weren't here Sunday, but in anticipation of the team's return I came back Monday morning and not only got pictures of the race BMWs but also video of the #46 car on the dyno, confirming a slipping clutch that sidelined it while in second place with minutes to go (more on page 12).
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| As I enter the main delivery bay, the grandiose scene strikes me. This place is huge, sensory-overload bright, and ultra clean. Behind those back walls are the administrative rooms. To my left are the hidden big-rig bays and to my right is a section of the shop we'll visit later in the tour of this 60,000 square foot mother ship. |
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| “Yeah, hello? Timmy, hey it's Pauly. Did you see how he bumped me into the grass, this guy? I want you to build me another racekaw, but with a roll cage made from his bones, and his head on the steering column so I can steer with his ears…capiche?” |
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| Past the tires, I'm so eager to approach the racecars ahead I barely notice this stock-looking E46 M3. Turns out it's a track-only car with just 13k miles on it, and outfitted with a Brembo big brake kit, 4.10:1 differential and double-adjustable coil-overs, and a Dinan S3R supercharger…just the basics. |
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| Pan left, more cars pop up. I overlooked this 5.0 Mustang, too, only to learn it's been updated with HRE wheels, a Griggs Racing suspension, and has a full Brembo big brake kit on its way. |
The red E92 BMW M3 behind it is owned by Joe Koenig of Trim Tex—a sponsor you'll see throughout—and sports a wicked 4.4-liter S65 V8 stroker motor, custom Fall-Line exhaust, Fall-Line fuel cell, AiM Sports Pista data acquisition system, and Brembo's “race” monoblock big brake kit ($20k!). I confess—the only reason I don't have close-ups is I found this out after the fact. Hey! It looked like a near-stock M3!
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| Panning back right, and sitting quietly beyond the white E46 M3 rests an SCCA Touring2 (T2) class Mustang 5.0, which encountered a love tap at Circuit of the Americas (yo man you still have to brake for Turn1). Other cars in the T2 class include the likes of Subaru WRX STi, Nissan 350Z and Porsche 911s. |
