Ok, here is your definitive answer to your wing question.

On a Supermodified, the articulating wings are controlled by nothing more than air pressure. The rear wing struts are air over hydraulic cylinders. Some are mounted to the rear suspension but not all. Wing sliders like the sprint cars run are not allowed. The explanation as to why they work in layman's terms is as follows:

Due to the inverted position of the center section (the opposite of an airplane wing which creates lift, a racing wing causes the air to push down and create downforce) the air pressure (downforce) is applied to the wing surface and through it to the struts which compress when the downforce pressure exceeds the pressure inside the struts. When the car slows in the turn the downforce pressure decreases and the compressed hydraulic fluid pushes the wing back up just like a shock absorber compresses and extends with suspension travel.

It is possible to run too little pressure in the struts which causes the wing to rotate past center and actually lift the front edge or too much pressure which does not allow the wing to move at all. These conditions are why the strut pressure has to be adjusted to suit differing track conditions. The East coast cars normally run the moveable wings while the West coast cars normally run a fixed wing which is not adjustable in any way during race conditions, only in the pits when needed.

Brent Seelman