The Byron Dragway World Power Wheelstand Contest is the best show on a dragstrip anywhere. On the first weekend of October, masses of like-minded people invade Byron, Illinois, looking for excitement and carnage. Just like in the 14 previous years, you really never know what you're going to see.
In the early years, sparks from a bumper-dragging wheelstand made you The Man. Then it was getting all four wheels off the ground and sliding on the bumper. When backflipping Chevettes started showing up, the bar was raised, and some wondered if this was a wheelie contest or a crashing contest. Then came Jason Carr's wheelstand last year that ended with his Mustang trying to take flight. This year, we might have seen the ultimate wheelstands as Rod LaCroix's '06 Pontiac Sunfire leaped completely into the air before skidding sideways across the finish line and Greg Broshous' '63 Chevy sliced off a wheel on his landing.
The biggest wheelstands at your local track would hardly get a look from the jaded crowd at Byron. They've come to see the lunatics run the asylum. When you factor in the totally unpredictable promoter, Ron Leek, announcing in the tower and more than 30 crazy wheelstand contestants, you get a show like nothing else in drag racing. You need to put this on your list of must-attend events for 2010.
Most Violent/Highest Wheelie
Rob LaCroix, '06 Pontiac Sunfire
Last year, Rob LaCroix (Canada's coolest export) stunned the crowd at Byron with the violence of his backflip in his nitrous-injected, small-block, Chevy-powered '76 Pontiac Acadian (think Chevette, eh!). "It felt like a roller coaster ride. The last thing I remembered was sliding on my roof, shutting off the switches on my panel, and then it was lights out," Rob says
For 2009, Rob changed the Acadian over to a soon-to-be-damaged '06 Pontiac Sunfire. After a tire-stretching burnout and a healthy nitrous purge, Rob launched the Sunfire into a slow-rising wheelie that looked like he was going for a distance wheelie instead of a backflip. The Sunfire was crossing the centerline while riding the rear bumper when it went airborne and crashed on its left side. With its engine bouncing off the rev limiter and clouds of white smoke pouring off the tires, the car slid through the timing beams. After a quick checkout from the EMTs, Rob rode back to the pits with his wreckage on a flatbed.
After the wreck, no one thought Rob would make it out for the second round wheelstands. Then the booming voice of Ron Leek announced, "Ladies and gentleman, we hear that Rob is in the pits with wrenches flying, trying to get that car running for the final round." When Rob's car came through the crowd behind the starting line, you could feel the tension in the air. He came off the line hard, throwing the Sunbird into the air in a sort of vertical, twisting move on the bumper. Rob had some decent hang time in that position before the car came crashing down. Rob's Sunfire was still running after the hit, and he idled the car back along the wall to the starting line. The TV guys pounced on Rob to hear him say, "If I win Most Violent Wheelie again next year, Canada might be putting my picture on a stamp."
By Mike Yoksich
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