I built my 500 motor in a way that if I wanted to go FAST, I would have a good starting point. As currently built, swapping my Mopar (Eddy) heads for 915s would give me a 12.5:1+ compression ratio. The part holding me back is the factory intake manifold. No matter what you do to the motor, that intake get you diminishing returns pretty quick, and a lot of work and money for very small incremental improvements. I'm actually surprised that Dwayne says it is a 70 hp hit from the 6 bbl. I thought it would be more.

Instead I went with a stock looking light. I don't pass it off as stock, but honestly, it is surprising how many people don't know (or really care) one way or the other. The advantage is that it runs on pump gas and can drive it anywhere any time. My motor in your car with the track conditions you had last weekend would run low 11s at about 125 mph with the stock converter, full automatic shift and 3.23 gears.

Of course, if the goal is to race in the class, you have little choice.