ET with and without wheelie.

[KRatcliff]

It is simple physics with a massive amount of variables. You have a stationary object that is being measured by time over a distance. Whether or not a wheelie adds or reduces that time isn't a cookie cutter answer.

There are so many variables which impact each and every car. Some examples are power band, gear ratios, aerodynamics, traction, suspension, and parasitic loss.

Take the last three and apply it to whether or not a wheelie will impact the 60' and eventual ET. A wheelie may aid in traction by the transfer of weight, but it also may be wasted motion to some degree or it may alter the suspension/pinion angle enough to create more parasitic HP loss. Too tight of a front end may keep the engine from reaching the ideal power curve thus negatively impacting the 60'/ET.

Experimenting with different settings and setups will get you closer to the optimum performance and it what makes all of this challenging. It is frustrating a lot, but also gratifying when you see the improvements. It can be binary to some degree if you make limited changes with each pass.

Edited to add: Wheelies are flipping fun.