Believe me I like a wheel stand as much as anyone, but feel that it is not the best use of horsepower. It would be more efficient if the car went straight with the wheels on the ground using all the horsepower to lower your et. JMO
I agree with it being more efficient to move forward vs moving up.
On a small tire car with limited tire and traction to deal with I think there is probably some sort of balance to transferring weight and how hard the tires get hit from any number of factors during the initial launch through the first 6o' when traction is at the breaking point of biting the track or not. Although I'll be the first to admit I have limited knowledge on the subject.
Most of us average Joe's are just out bracket racing so the fastest or best ET is not really of importance as much as consistency. I have seen many wheel standing cars win bracket classes though. So there is no denying that it doesn't work or win races.
The Hemi cars do generally run a heads up class though as far as I know. It would be interesting to know more about the car set ups. I tend to agree with others that if the cars would be faster without wheel standing. That's what you would see from those guys. I would guess at that level they are looking for ever .001 of a second advantage. I highly doubt, unlike myself they are worried about if the car looks cool in the way it launches.