Short sidewalls ostensibly offer better cornering because there is less deflection in the sidewall. They also enable the use of larger brakes. Drag racers don

Short sidewalls ostensibly offer better cornering because there is less deflection in the sidewall. They also enable the use of larger brakes. Drag racers don't care about this since they don't turn unless something has gone wrong and they have lots of room to slow down. In drag racing the sidewall is used like a coil spring to capture torque before moving forward and then transmit it to the course. Stance kids and all their variants do things because it looks good to them.