we discovered long time ago, prelube is important. as most setups have min lube. that's why we soak them in a can of oil as assemble short block. most our stuff is racing, after 4 seasons 400 runs cam was 1 degree retarded, chain was still snug. that's with lots of spring pressure and RPM. for a street engine I would still prelube it. roller chains are the worst for stretching, link belt chains do not seem to stretch as bad. we prelube those also. also, the slinger ring needs to be there as the oil leaks from the front main , it gets slung onto the chain.
