Did anyone at all watch the Cobra Jet video linked in my question?
FYI @ 0.30
that's some serious Flambé of something when the front end returns to the track, yet it keeps going and going
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP4S2zUgz0E
I did watch the video, a couple times. Before I comment check out this picture of the under carriage of a late model CJ Mustang wheelstand.
You'll notice the new Mustangs have a different arrangement in that the oil pan sump ( painted black, the aluminum pan you see behind is the transmission ) and headers are behind the front suspension and front crossmembers. You'll also notice there is no special "Bang plate", the steering rack, tie rods, etc. are all out in the open.
Now, just my opinion from watching your video, I think when that driver sensed his car wasn't going straight he eased off the throttle and the car came down hard. Normally, on a good run, the driver would of course stay on the throttle and the car would come down easy. I think the sparks you're seeing are probably from the various parts of the undercarriage scrapping the pavement and as Howie said, these new cars are tanks. I'm guessing the owner looked the car over after the run and didn't find anything seriously amiss, or fixed it if they did and were able to run again. Then they either made some tuning / driving changes on the next runs since you'll notice he kept the wheels closer to the ground after that. I'll say too that I don't think the driver totally panicked when the car got on the rear bumper cover or you would have seen the car come down much harder.
Now, Check out these two videos ( that have been posted earlier this year ) of Roy Hills runs that ended badly. On the first one I don't think Roy Hill eased off the throttle ( as much as your driver did ) when the car started going left and he wound up in the other lane. But the car didn't come down as hard. This could have ended much worse though if the two cars had contacted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWPmwb2L0koNow check the run he made the next day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Dsx_vYCiLYI can't say for sure, but either the rear suspension unloaded some when it stood up or he knew it was heading for the wall and he had less room than the day before, but he let off it much harder and it was more violent. We can't see it on the video but I'll guess there were sparks too. Bottom line they didn't have that car set up right and he was trying to drive it much harder than he should have.
I re-read your question - what I thought you were asking was, if a car comes down from a wheelie too hard is there major damage - the answer is yes, quite possibly enough to not make it back the next round. I've even seen cars practicably totaled when it really goes bad. But in general the cars don't come down that hard each run. In the hands of a master and with a car set up right it's a very graceful thing. But in reading again I think what you are asking is - What has changed? In that the car in your video made it back. I think in the picture above you can see the new Mustangs have a different chassis than the older cars. But no special skid plates are employed and even the new cars can suffer serious damage on a wheel stand gone wrong.
