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that particular extreme of a bicycle tire would be fine, if you could make the wheel diameter large enough to get the contact patch area the same size. But you can't do that very easily because of fenders, gearing, wheel strength, and so on. (Incidentally, the simple F=mu*N formula says that a bicycle tire might be best: traction is the same and the wheel has less mass! But we know the simple formula isn't the whole story.) You want to minimize shear, which is force per unit area. If you have a narrow tire, you let some air out to maximize the size of the contact patch and "wrinkle up the rubber". With a wide tire, you get more problems with tread deformation when you let out the air. On road-size wheels, narrower wheels and tires with bigger sidewalls provide better traction for drag racing. If by "these guys" you mean dragsters or something, well, they exceed the normal bounds of tire diameter. Also, racing rules force you to do funny things sometimes. The fact is, for road racing, wider tires are better. For drag racing, it is not the case.
- John
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