Ben Mens replaced the ladder bar suspension on the Lucas Oil-sponsored Mustang he races in Edelbrock's NMRA Hot Street class with a stock-style Team Z Motorsports suspension before the Milan Dragway NMRA event. He also heads Roush Industries' Competition Engines department, so horsepower is never an issue. Getting all of it to the ground can be another story.
Mens' first run with the suspension looked like a '70s-style launch with the car twisting badly. After a few adjustments, the Mustang spun the tires hard off the line on the next run. In an attempt to diagnose the problem, he took the car to Team Z's shop in Flat Rock, Michigan, where owner Dave Zimmerman thrashed to get it corrected and back to the track by the next day.
When the Mustang got up to the line, you could see Zimmerman on one knee behind the car trying to see if they had solved the problem. On the launch, the Lucas Oil Mustang pulled all four wheels off the ground and tripped the 60-foot lights with the bumper. The car no longer has a traction issue.