It’s certainly not the fastest way down the track, nor the safest, but heading down the 1320 with the wheels in the air definitely looks the coolest.
Of course when the front end is airborne, the ability to correct the car’s trajectory down the track is more or less eliminated entirely, and if a driver chooses to keep their foot on the throttle – a rarity – they’re basically judging their distance from the wall and hoping for the best, as the view out the windshield is going to be sky and clouds with the front end is off the ground.
In this collection of wheelstand clips, several of passes are offered from several different angles, giving us a chance to see how everything plays out from various vantage points. In one clip we see a third generation Camaro driver who attempts to stay in it and nearly gives his car up to the wall, only to catch it at the last moment, much to the glee of the enthusiastic crowd. Other drivers aren’t as lucky though.
It should come as little surprise that the double wheelie is the biggest crowd pleaser, and a pair of Mustangs in the clip are happy to oblige, though neither are able to put together a clean run after touching back down. Of course it almost goes without saying that wheelie bars would make these runs both faster and more stable (and be less likely to damage the cars), but where’s the fun in that?