drag racing - small front tire vs. big front tire?

Ok, lets assume that it is a heavy car (3500 lbs) with cal tracs and 26 tall rear tire, automatic and 3.89 rear gear. What size tire (24, 25, 26) do you put up front and why -which would break the beam faster and why?

The smallest front tire will " break the beam " faster for a quicker reaction time. The tallest tire will give you the quickest E.T. because of the larger rollout of the tire. It will give the car a " run " at the starting beam. Most of the 10.90,9.90,8.90 type cars use the short tire because of the desired quicker reaction to the lights. The Stock and Super Stock racers will normally run the tallest front tire they can fit in the front to gain an E.T. advantage. Hope this helps, Jay Roeder.
[addsig]

The clock doesn't actually start until you roll out of the beam at the starting line.

For this reason, a larger circumference tire will roll farther than a shorter tire before starting the clock.

This gives you a little more of a head start before the clock starts ticking. [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Good Luck!
[addsig]