Comment:

Dave Kelly was one of my personal favorites. I have always wondered about the set up on the front suspension of the 17. In particular, why are the shocks mounted at that position?

Allen, The cantilever front suspension with the coil over springs you are asking about really worked well on our cars. In my opinion this was the hot setup back then and both of Dave's modified's had it. Basically it kept the left front tire planted to the track while the car was pitched real hard in the turns (Broad sliding). I have pictures of Dave broad sliding in both of our cars right next to somebody else in the turns. While the other guy was lifting his left front tire off the track, Both front tires on our cars would stay planted on the track especially the left front. It gave Dave better control of the car while in the turns. Also the cantilever system could handle the stresses better and is still used today on many racing applications.

Thanks, Jim Silvius