People don't understand just how competitive ProStock drag racing really is. There is no other type of Motorsport that competes 16 cars, who's ET (qualifying time if you will), that are within .06 routinely. I've seen fields where the spread was as small as .045.
That is close!
Like I said yesterday, these cars are balancing on the head of a pin in terms of traction. 1/2 gram on the clutch, moving one pound of ballast, 1/4 PSI of air in the tire, 1/8 inch clearance on the wheelie bars can be the difference between winning and shaking the tires.
Teams that are successful collect, understand and use every bit of data they can. Why?
They want to eliminate unknowns and things that might have been out of their control.
As you correctly stated, HP is one thing, making the call during qualifying that wins the pole is another, and making the right call at noon on Sunday is another thing still.
Personally, I despise the large number of "one lane" tracks. In reality, the lanes are prepped very, very well. It's the nature of the cars these days that make it look like lane prep is a problem a lot of the time.
One Lane racing is why I have lost interest in the Fuel classes completely, besides all the fabricated media drama.
I can tell you, most drivers would rather run a side by side race, than a bye. These guys are competitive as hell.

This horse has been beaten bloody

Paul