True about water pump pulley sizes in my experience, at least speeding the pump up for lower temps on a street/strip 512 engine.
But I arguably corrupted that experiment by simultaneously adding a fan shroud.
My best guess is those combined lowered low-speed and highway-speed temps, and I was happy with the result.
I inherited the restrictor on the racecar, and appreciated the overall simplicity and "bullet-proof-ness".
I do understand thermostats - and also how alcohol as a fuel affects engine temps, from my time with Sprint Cars.
This monkey has seen several different methods of accomplishing most of the desired parameters in drag racing, but indeed there's plenty of see/do...

You can eliminate the thermostat with an electric pump provided you pay attention to the temp gauge. Just don't turn the pump until the block water starts to get hot. Once the needle is up to 150 or so you can flip the pump on and start to circulate water. You have to be very careful about this since if you forget to turn the pump on you'll overheat the engine. Use warning lights to remind you.

You never need a restrictor plate with a Meziere water pump. None of the Meziere pumps will flow enough water to justify a restrictor plate. The more water you can force thru the engine the better. With a Meziere pump, cooling increases as flow increases.

Thanks for the input.

The pump will be activated by the Terminator ECU - as will the fan - when the engine come ups to temp The beauty of the ECU is that these can be triggered seperately at different temps.

I agree, and I suspect a lot of testing takes place to determine if a cavitation problem exists and how to reduce it. But restating my point, does that same effort get applied internally of a head for example, even if it's a less likely source?

I've used a Meziere pump WP 105 (it bolts into a stock housing) since 2007. I use a restrictor plate (basically the same size as a punched out thermostat) It's cooled the 528, 572 and 655 engine versions of my Challenger street and strip with no issues. I've had various fans and controllers on it (the breakages being due to heavy wheelstand landings). Using firmly mounted Davis twin fan digital controller (fitted recently) and Spal fans at the moment, they seem to be working well