[aerohead]

Originally Posted by freebeard

One possibility: It was the difference between static and sliding friction. Getting traction from a spinning tire?


http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2019...immy-like.html

I'm not a fan, and haven't looked at it since Kenny Bernstein was on top.
At that time, winning was all about the clutch.
There was no way to just hook 7,000-horsepower to the drive wheels.
They were running 32-stages of clutch engagement over the 1/4-mile, not really locking up until almost the finish line.
Burnouts heated the tires for grip.
Slippage would keep the rpms in the desired power band.
Weight transfer helped traction.
Wheelie-bars would help prevent over-rotation.
At some point they wanted the front wheels back on the track in order to steer.
As the wrinkle-walls grew in diameter from centrifugal force, the 'gearing' would be changing.
Air had to be clean enough for parachute deployment.
Really good brakes.
Delta-RR.
Delta-aero.
Really complicated orchestration of events.