Wheel hop is one of the most violent sensations that you can experience in a relatively stock car. Anyone who has owned a Mustang Cobra of the SN195 variety has probably lived through it on the street or the strip. We sure know that we have. Instead of a Mustang, this video features a fourth generation Camaro experiencing severe wheel hop on the drag strip, which results in the wheel studs on both side of the rear axle failing and the rear tires leaving the program in pretty wild fashion. The poor guy in the car had to be wondering what the heck had just happened!

This video was filmed at Beaver Springs Dragway, in Pennsylvania. It is an awesome little strip that is totally retro and cool in just about every way. The place hooks like mad and “Beaver Bob” who runs the place is a kind of cult drag racing legend. You can actually see daylight under the rear tires as they literally bounce off the ground while spinning. The multiple shock loads placed on those wheel studs with the tire the jumping off the asphalt and then slamming back down so many times in so quick a fashion spelled a quick end for the studs.

Watch the whole video and you’ll see that the dude actually installed new studs at the track that day and was back at it by the end of the afternoon. That’s a killer, BangShift approved, never say die attitude! Good that the car was not hurt badly and the Camaro lived to fight another day!

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We love wheelstand videos and we know that you do as well. Know who else does? Sean Melton of Urban Hillbilly Action Video and he’s got an archive of footage from his years at the drag strip that boggles the mind. Sean has been cranking out some great compilation videos recently but this is out favorite one yet. As in the other videos, Sean combines great video clips from years back with stuff that he has shot in more recent times.

One of the things that videos like this remind us of is the fact that there’s been absolutely nutty stuff happening, particularly with “small tire” drag cars for some years now. It kind of makes us feel old. Today’s world of advanced suspension designs, tire compounds, data acquisition, and pin point tuning see that the record books are rewritten on an almost week to week basis. The cars are still wild and they are faster than ever but it is always awesome to glance back to see the types of cars and runs that built the scene that we have today. This footage was shot at tracks all over the country and you’ll surely see some cars in here that you’ll remember.

This is over four minutes of non-stop craziness. Guys on one wheel, guys with all four off the ground and landings that range from violent to total plane crash level will keep you glued to your screen. Watching this video with my kids it was a slew of OHHHHs and WOAHHHHs though the whole thing. Grab the other guys in the shop, the other people in the office, or the weird booger eating guy on the other side of your cubicle and press play. Everyone loves this stuff!

PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE THE MOST INTENSE, NON-STOP, UNRELENTING WHEELIE VIDEO EVER MADE –

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Well now this is awesome. 1320Video has released the Drag Week 2005 DVD in its entirety and you can watch it below. We’re talking about the first ever Drag Week, the event where I met Chad and Freiburger, and the event that set the stage for what we know as BangShift more than a decade later. This is an amazing trip back through time, especially for the small group of us that were actually there. I was reporting on the event for CompetitionPlus.com, Chad was racing his famed Rusty wagon and Freiburger was the leader of the whole circus. Larry Larson was there, Carl Scott won, and guys like Tom Hogshead and Vince Rasch were making the first of their appearances at an event that they can brag, to this day, on never having missed one of. Freiburger can’t even say that.

Drag Week 2005 was insane for many reasons. The first is that this was a one way trip. There was no loop. We started at KCIR and ended up in Michigan. Oh, you towed your stuff to KCIR to start and it is all still there? Cool. Just drive back down to your trailer and go home. I’m not saying today’s Drag Week events are easy, because they are not. I am saying that these guys who did it the first time were a special brand of nuts.

Luminaries early in their careers came as well. Steve Morris, the well known engine builder is the guy with the massive Caprice wagon. Justin Burcham the guy in the then brand new Mustang had just begun to grow his JPC (Justin’s Power Center) into a central hub for late model Ford performance, hell Kyle and 1320Video were just some kids with cameras, long before their explosion in popularity. Some guy named Larry Larson who was well known around Missouri would start to rise to a place in the sport of drag racing we’re sure even HE didn’t attaining. It all started that first awkward day at KCIR.

Watch it from day one below. When you spot the pasty guy in the blue baseball cap, that’s me. When you spot the slightly bearded Chad, that’s him. Lots has changed since 2005 but one thing has not. We can say that we were actally there!

Press play below to watch the 1320Video Drag Week 2005 DVD in its entirety!

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