In the modern-day world of technology in drag racing, the age-old use of wheelie bars have far more practical purpose then simply keeping a race car from flipping over backward — they are an intricate part of the entire formula, built and routinely measured to the nth degree run after run to help plant the rear suspension in a perfect way so as to not strike the tires too hard nor too soft, while also helping to drive the car straight off the starting line. But at the end of the day, they are still very much meant to do just what their name implies — keep the car from powering into an uncontrollable wheel stand.

The twin turbo Mustang you see here puts its wheelie bars to the test in all phases of their use, until they don’t want to be a part of the car anymore.

Wheelie bars have been around drag racing for decades and they are actually very complex when it comes to help tuning a chassis. A good set of bars will help keep your car straight as it rolls down the track with some well-placed stagger, height, and length. Wheelie bars are also an important safety feature on certain cars to help keep them shiny-side-up — particularly with Top Fuel, Top Alcohol, and Top Dragsters.

In small-tire racing, wheelie bars are only allowed in select classes, including Outlaw 10.5 and Outlaw Radial/Radial Wars. Some grudge racers use them, as well, but for good reason. When you’re putting down close to 2,000 horsepower or more to the wheels, and get all of it to stick a car will take flight in a hurry. Such was the case with Mustang that hooks HARD,  smacks the wheelie bars like they owe it money, and looks like its about to roll out on a pass. Things go south quickly when something on the wheelie bars or the car fails and sends the Mustang on a short flight.

The driver does a great job keeping things from getting worse and keeps the car off the wall. Check out this video from Urban Hillbilly that highlights what happens when wheelie bars go on strike.