I am really surprised this didn't kick up

In some cases, yes. Have you looked on the US Car Tool site? Look at their complete chassis stiffening kits and you'll see what all comes in it. It's pretty impressive. Very good stuff for a high horse power car.
I copied their 1/8" plate torque boxes with some minor changes for my application. I like some of their stuff, but think their lower road support stiffener is cheesy compared to what I built.