What a great thread, thanks for starting it.
I seem to remember reading that back in the day, Bob Glidden spent an unbelievable amount of money on differnt camshafts trying to maintain his edge.
When you look at the Summit team and their reported ties to NASCAR technology, exotic metals, and the mulitiude of things that could have an effect on the horsepower numbers, it has to be staggering. I would think that it may even turn out that something that makes additional power in one area robs the motor of power in another area, maybe not.
I've thought about how Warren Johnson, who had the edge for quite some time, has been passed up by some of the newcomers. What do they know that he doesn't? Where did they pick up that extra horsepower, and why can't Warren find the same results? It can't be from lack of resources, I've heard that his engine shop has state of the art everything.
I remember reading that one of the guru's, maybe Glidden or Johnson, or someone else, said that an internal combustion motor is nothing more than an air pump, and the goal was to move the air/gasoline mixture through it as quickly and efficiently as possible.
I'm also not so sure about that comment someone made about the guys not using the dyno. It seems that every time they talk about Jason Line, they're always mentioning how valuable he is to the team and how much dyno time he puts in looking for horsepower for their team.