Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Why is it ? ~ ~ ~ Wings, ....... we all know that wings on any kind of racing machine are for more stability, & control, ~ ~ ~ then why is it that on the sprint cars, sprints, wingers, & the midgets, only the wing class has wings, one would think that if one of the three has them, that all 3 - would also, ?

Yo Bestia,

I AM THE LION, ~~~ THE HYENAS ARE COMING, ~~~ I DO NOT 
SLEEP, ~~~ I WAIT FOR THEM ~ ~ ~ 

But all are sprint cars ? ......... only diff. I can see is the size,

I AM THE LION, ~~~ THE HYENAS ARE COMING, ~~~ I DO NOT 
SLEEP, ~~~ I WAIT FOR THEM ~ ~ ~ 

Wings evolved from a bunch of great racers wanting to go as fast as they could around a dirt track. They are now just for safety as almost no one wants to go as fast as possible. Most are far more concerned about making the sport cheaper these days.

Luna's Ford engine style that won 2 WoO titles and 3 
Kings Royals before a weight rule against the best EVER
in their prime and now DOMINATES super dirt late model
racing is no longer allowed/wanted in a WoO sprint
car.... Was Luna a miracle worker?

I see someone gets it.

www.manvelmotorsports.com

We're not alone, and it seems that more and more people are starting to get it. A winged sprinter is modified, a super mod to be sure, but still a modified sprinter.

Anyone remember when they first started putting wings on Midgets? Well they called them modified Midgets didn't they?

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

Wings are safer because they take a lot of the force when a winged sprint car gets upside down. All that sheet metal getting bent up in a wing is less impact on the car and driver themselves. It acts as sort of a cushion to the top of the frame.

From what I know and understand you can take the wings off and you have a normal wingless sprintcar, I'm sure there would be setup changes you would need to make to race it wingless as opposed to winged and also I'm not sure if your motor would be legal for say a USAC wingless race as all the different divisions have there own motor rules. As far as safety I think it comes down to that big wing in alot of crash scenarios slows the impacts or rolling, not that you can't still have nasty crashes but the wing helps absorb some of the impact. Somebody can very well correct me on any of my points as I'm not saying I'm 100% on any of this, but also by running non-wing, is it suppose to make the motor power abit less important for the fact that you don't have the hook up like you do in a winged car, so by all rights its more about the skill of the wheel man than it is about pure power.

As far as Minthess's cheaper comments, thats just Minthess rambling on because he has conspiracy theories about Ford. Its best to not get him started. And Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has quit returning his phone calls ever since he sent him a picture of himself with nothing but a Ford Oval T-shirt on.

http://gph.is/XMLGff

There is no question that the strain that's put on a engine having to push the air down to create all that down force is much more than what you have with a traditional sprinter. So there's also no question that your non winged car is likely to have less problems and possibly a longer life because of that. But hey, a 410$ is a 410$, no matter what series its ran in.

Yes you can still take the wing off and run it non wing after some part changes and adjustments, but more often than not nowadays you'll see sprinters that are made specifically for one or the other. Look at the pictures of the non winged cars, and the ones you see with nubs on the top of the cages is a car that runs both.

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

if you see a sprintcar aka.. "nonwing car" with wing spuds, that means he bent his last wing, his motor is tierd, and he doesnt like going faster,, im sorry, really tho, Im a winged guy (ya ya, start throwing tamatoes) but, fact is fact winged cars are faster, and to a degree, much safer in the event of a roll, granted "with a wing" costs much much more, spuds, wing tree, wing ram,valve,lines,front wing and posts, and that pesky tall trailer to haul it in when the crew wants to drink beer and not load the car with the inconvienance of taking the rutter off. spoiler,cap,floppy thing, lid, it costs alot more, (ya Ive heard them all kinda humorous actually what people come up with..) anyway, alot of long time sprint fans will argue this to the point of the Hatfields and McCoys, which is fine, whats wrong with being passioate about something? having respect for a fellow sprintfan, winged or nonwinged, is the most important.... taking a wing off a winged car and expecting to be competitive in that same car is almost unheard of , a few variances, and actuall roll centers need to be lowered by track width ect, these cars are sideways 90% of the time, encountering a bump from a competitor or the track conditions sends a car into viollent flips that almost definetly lands in a "big ending" that hurts, the rear of the machine is often changed, for tourque ball dimentions ect, alot of cars run (front) coil springs with shocks located inside the spring assembly, sway bars are common, alot less stagger is pretty routine, Ya, I would like to drive one for a special "wing off" show, but im assuming I would return to my roots with the "floppy thing" above my head, , sadly drivers are still being injured or killed in both types of cars, NOBODY wants to witness that. NOBODY!

honestly, as far as danger goes , take the roll cages out, strap on leather helmets and a pair of goggles, tearoffs? what are those? gloves? for what? im not baking here!, Firesuit! its hot in August!, besides where am I going to put my pack of smokes?,a trusty white t shirt has a pocket! the poineers of the sport evolved the sport where it is today, winged or nonwing niether have anything on the cars of yester year!, the poineers, they were just completly insane, and having a ball doing it ....

Couldn't say it better.

Manzy and Ascot were my home tracks for most of their existence, and I can tell you that Manzy, a BIG 1/2 mile, was faster in the turns than what their going on the straights at most of these bull rings. Sorry but this clip is not embedded.... Next time you see Balou, ask him why non wing sprints are so slow..LOL...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZqGbrj87Jk

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

Chili does not have beans. Only Chili with beans do.

A little off-topic I know, but I had to do it.

Thats true, ... but why not put wings on all sprint cars, ........ could delay your number from being called up,

I think all sprints should have wings, ~ ~ ~ they look cool, ~ ~ ~ but thats because I like the wingers best of the three divisions, as many do, ~ ~ ~

Maybe someone should start a campaign to require that ?

~ ~ ~ HAPPY ............

I AM THE LION, ~~~ THE HYENAS ARE COMING, ~~~ I DO NOT 
SLEEP, ~~~ I WAIT FOR THEM ~ ~ ~ 

Rules, a organization says no wings allowed in rule book. They will also say no airfoil that causes down force. Some cars put airfoils on each side at knerf bar area for down force. t hese were outlawed. Some people do not remember WOO ran both wing and non winged races. It was up to track promoter. I think USAC did the same thing for a short period. All of your older WOO drivers have run both with and without. As far as safety, I do not remember what year but USAC lost 7 drivers in one year. That was back before roll cages .

99% of the drivers that come out of sprints and get to the top in NASCAR, come out of USAC and non winged cars. Maybe even 99.9%!

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

No wings back in the day.... That's Allen Heath in the 97 Sprinter doing the doughnuts, and if you look close you can see the hook on his left arm where his hand used to be...Yes, he has it up in the air as he's celibrating on the back chute. I watched Allen run at Ascot back in the 60's after he lost his hand and trust me, he was a real "mad man"..DICK WALLEN videos- CHECK THIS OUT ..http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jVLceFcr7mY

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true.