Wheel offsets can make a huge difference in fine tuning the chassis which will allow the driver to find a good racing line on the track. “If your car is really tight or really loose during hot laps, you have to take a look at the things that are going to make the biggest difference. Wheel offsets are very important. You can change a wheel on the car without disturbing the scaling that you’ve done at the garage.
“ illustrated the point by telling us what he has seen at various tracks over the years, “Too many times we see guys go out on the track for hot laps when the track is muddy, come off the track and dial in 10 rounds on the weight jack. Then they go out and run a heat race when the track is tacky. When they come off they take the 10 rounds back out and dial in 10 rounds somewhere else. By feature race time, these guys have no clue where the weight and balance of the car is.”
The changes that you can make using wheel offsets, “If you find yourself with an extremely tight car during hot laps, you can run less offset in the right front or you can move the left front or right rear out.” Merritt explained that it helps to have a set of eyes watch the car on the track to verify what the driver is feeling. “Your spotter can watch the driver’s hands on the corner entry and it will pretty much tell him everything.”
Continued by saying, “If the problem is tight on entry, you can move the right front in to help the car pivot better. If the track is a flatter track with minimal banking, I like to move the left front out which will also help the car turn better.” If your car is wicked loose, Merritt says you do the reverse. “If you are making changes with tire stagger and wheel offsets, you’re never messing with the true balance of the racecar. “Key to success is making any changes for the track conditions you expect to see at the later stages of the feature race.