An observation

OK, help me out here drag racing fans. While at the NHRA Pomona Winter Nationals this year I was watching stock, super stock, comp etc. and noticed an abundance of great wheelies. But at the March Meet in the hot rod class, hardly a one. It kinda struck me as odd. Is it a difference in track conditions or just a different way of approaching things?

 

Sounds like track hook up conditions. Time with the front in the air, equates to time lost at the pole.

 

Ohmigod yes! suspension setups on more 'modern' cars (along with tire designs and rubber formulations) have made a HUGE difference in a car's ability to 'hook up'. There are literally off-the-shelf componentry available for modern cars which will allow cars competing in Factory Stock to pop the wheels off the line - these are fairly mild mills putting a skosh over 300HP to the pavement.

Takes an awful lot of trickery - in comparison - to sort out a hot rod to do the same thing. Weight bias, weight transfer, gear ratios - all play a role.

On top of that, track conditions vary not only from day to day, but from run to run! Good racers keep a logbook of such things, and track temperature/humidity to calculate density altitude like it was on a friggin' tax return. Track conditions can cause an ET to vary by a good 4 tenths on a typical low 13/high 12 street car, and most of the variance occurs in the first 60'. Trap speed tells you how powerful the car is; the 60' tells you how well the car is sorted out for drag racing, and the ET is the reward for matching the two.

 

To put the track conditions in perspective. Hellzapopin usually launches with the rear bumper on the track. At last years HAMBdrags,on a 1 day old surface, he couldnt even lift the front wheels. A week later the Mokan folks said all the rubber we laid down made the traction better than ever.

 

You're right. I didn't even think of the rules in play. Even though it may be a '67 Camaro on the outside it's another story under the skin between nostalgia rules and NHRA rules.

 

Generally speaking the quickest way down the track for Stock and super stock is to hang the hoops. Other classes work to keep the nose down. If the track is tight enough you will see torque hold one front wheel up in different classes. Wheelies are cool, but tough on parts.