Teams

Kansas Wheat "Stalkers"

Garage Headquarters: McPherson, KS

Driver: Chris Walline

Mechanics: Mike Walline, Dustin Koehn, Jim Smith

Nuts and Bolts:

The local teams at Red Bull Soapbox Denver may not know it, but they’re being stalked – wheat stalked, that is, by a group of Kansans who intend to glean a victory from the competition. Chris Walline is the 32-year-old owner of Superior Auto in McPherson, Kansas, a full-service repair shop that specializes in transmission work. His brother Mike (30), the company service manager, will be joining him in the Soapbox quest, along with their lifelong friend Dustin Koehn (27), who works as a senior technical trainer, and Jim Smith (45), a graphic design instructor who befriended the Wallines after having his car serviced. “We’re two teachers and two auto rats,” Chris laughs. “We all love automobiles and racing, and we have loads of fun when we are together.”

The foursome chose a design resonant of the heartland – a combine harvester – and they’re meeting twice a week to construct the souped-up thresher, which incorporates a custom metal frame. Chris acknowledges, “The biggest challenge is designing the steering to get a rear-steer combine to be fast and stable,” but he feels that the Stalkers can thrash the field. “We’re very excited, and we’ll be coming to Denver to show you all how we do it here in the flatlands,” Chris states. “The rest of the lineup will find that it’s hard to run with the Kansas good ol’ boys!”