Wheelie Bars are not needed for Safety on Stockers!

[Todd Geisler]

Originally Posted by Alan Roehrich

Congratulations on proving Jim correct. We run around 1.34 to 1.35 60' times running 10.1X at 129MPH. The car runs 6.35 or so in the 1/8 mile. So he's going 1.35 seconds quicker in the 1/8 mile, on a similar 60' time. Which is EXACTLY the point Jim was making. A car that runs 5.0 @ 150 in the 1/8 mile should be going around 1.20 60' times.

You said "well below" 1.35. Define "well below".

Oh, was that Chevy II using leaf springs and traction bars? How about a stock front clip with near stock front suspension? And around 51-55% of its weight on the front tires?

I'm gonna play devil's advocate here a little.

My own car is a heads up, N/A car. Car weighs 2960 with driver and has 54% of the weight on the nose. It's got a conventional headed BBC that makes between 1100 and 1200 hp. The converter flashes to 7000 rpm, 4.57 rear gear on a 275/60 DOT drag radial tire which is 28" tall and has 10" of tread.

The car runs 5.0's at 137 mph and has 60'd a best of 1.129.

I'm just sharing this as there has been some misinformation when the heads up stuff was brought up.

I have used bars for several years, but when I started running this new class they are illegal, so I was forced to figure out how to run the car without them and keep the front end down. No it's not easy and if you make a bad tuning call it will go up (much quicker and more violent than a stocker).

Now, last I knew stockers weren't allowed travel limiters, but S/S was correct?

I'll also concede that lower HP cars need some weight transfer to get up on the tire where a higher HP car can plant it with power.

I will say this, I'm glad I no longer use the bars. They were a PITA as far as I'm concerned. It also makes you work harder to find the right setup for the days track/weather conditions as well as the tuneup you have in the car. That to me is a fun challenge even if I fail to get it right.

I would ask this. If bars were suddenly made illegal on stockers, would those who run just park their cars, or would you buckle down and figure out a way to make it work without them?

Stock and S/S are great classes, some of my favorites by far. I kinda treat mine as if I was running S/S on small tires & stock suspension as far as running as hard as possible to the 60 & 330.

And I do understand you can't easily compare low & high HP cars when it comes to some of this stuff.