Drag race car goes airborne11/24/2023 ![]() “Delta front weight” is the weight transferred from the front end to the rear tires as the car accelerates. A race car goes airborne before crashing, and a pier sinks during a storm. To arrive at a formula for when a car goes into a wheelstand, Hale starts with a basic weight-transfer equation. A racer modifies his drag boat-almost costing his life, two storm chasers are trapped by a tornado. “Too much of a wheelstand can even unload the rear tires if the wheelie bars are pushed so hard into the track that they take weight off the rear tires.” It’s often the case that when a drag car is smoking its rear tires, it’s because a large violent wheelstand unloaded those huge slicks. “The wheelstand is the natural reaction to tire thrust,” Hale explains. drag-racing computer-simulation program and currently works as a drag-racing consultant ( ), earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Arizona State University and has equations on hand to digitally recreate virtually any on-track condition. But Patrick Hale, who developed the Quarter Jr. “One of them is the torque of the rear axle, and the other is the center of gravity.”Īcademia has made far too little effort to explain the dynamics of the wheelie. Nonetheless, the Arrowplane goes down as the first real flying car. That’s just what’s happened to this classic Chevrolet Camaro dragster, only the insane turn of events sent the Camaro completely airborne, and the driver managed to save it like it was a walk in the park. “There are two factors that produce a wheelstand,” says Austin Coil, the legendary crew chief for the even-more-legendary Funny Car driver John Force. The third car had a stabilizer fin on top, which did nothing to cure the Dymaxion's. Peering through holes cut into the bodywork and steering with individually controlled rear brakes, Golden piloted the mid-engined, Hemi-powered Dodge through nearly 40 years of exhibitions. The front wheels may stay airborne for the first 60 feet or so, gently coming back down to the ground, after which the car rockets on to complete its run.īut the wheelstand was perfected as entertainment by barnstormers like Bill “Maverick” Golden and his “Little Red Wagon,” a 1965 Dodge A100 pickup. In fact, practically all the cars in the NHRA’s professional classes-Pro Stock, Funny Car, and Top Fuel-get their front wheels off the ground to some extent on every successful run. Conversely, the wheelie could last the entire length of the track, with the crowd going home remembering that bit of epic awesomeness more than who won the race. It’s armed with a pair of 102mm turbochargers, and enough power to send it into the air. ![]() Or the driver will lift off the throttle, and the car will slam down and crack open like a chrome molybdenum egg. But what happens when it does go bad The video below shows Tim Slavens driving his 3,500 horsepower ’69 Chevrolet Camaro at the Georgia Motorsports Park’s Lights Out 12 drag racing event last Wednesday. Maybe enough air will catch under the car to blow it over in agony. Front wheels clawing at the air, rear tires slammed flat into the pavement-it’s the decisive moment between disaster and glory. In drag racing, it doesn’t get more dramatic than a wheelstand. ![]()
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