Tired of the restrictive rules and the lack of innovation in most drag racing series? Then you should definitely check out the street and no-prep class, because that's where you will find some out-of-the-box ideas. The latest comes from Joey Hiykel, who designed an extended weight bar of his infamous "Beater Bomb" Fox-body Mustang.
The contraption that raised eyebrows at a recent small-tire race in Kansas may look like a longer-than-usual wheelie bar, but it's actually a better way to hang weight behind the rear bumper. The bars extend several feet off the Mustang's rear end to support removable ballast, thus removing the need to put weights in the trunk.
The concept is actually simple. The further out the weight is, the less you need to balance the car. "In my opinion, this makes the car safer, because a lot of people that are racing on poor surfaces are putting 250-pounds or more in the trunk. As far as mine is hanging out there, it’s a lot less than that," Hiykel explains, according to DragZine.
In order to use the bar, Hiykel also had to fit the Mustang with a pair of "not your regular" front shocks so that the tires remain in contact with the asphalt. Still, the Beater Bomb has enough power to launch into big wheelstands, so keeping the car balanced is a delicate matter.
Does it create a significant advantage at the drag strip? Well, Hiykel is still testing and fine tuning the concept. “Right now, I don’t have many passes on it, so it’s harder to use it to my advantage, but once I get it manageable and get some more data, I think it’ll be a game-changer for me," he says.
But he might not have a lot of time to test and improve the weight bar. Hiykel says that while some people praised the contraption as innovative, other racers felt it should be illegal.
"Several racers that felt threatened by it thought it was dangerous. I feel like they saw it’s advantages and felt it should be illegal and shouldn’t be allowed. I foresee them outlawing it at some places, but maybe it’ll just become a thing where, ‘man, that guy was crazy enough to try that, props to him’…I don’t know," he added.
I definitely like the idea, especially since the weight carrier also works as a wheelie bar. It's great to see that racers still come up with outside-the-box ideas so here's to Beater Bomb not getting outlawed from too many events. Now check out this crazy contraption in the videos below.
Ask Ciprian about cars and he'll reveal an obsession with classics and an annoyance with modern design cues. Read his articles and you'll understand why his ideal SUV is the 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer. Full profile
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