Hood question (69 Dart hood with factory scoop)

Sorry for the delay. I have the car out of storage so needed to revisit this thread. The mystery remains on the cutout. My neighbours looked at it and said it looks like a factory cutout. This is a stock hood otherwise (no crush zone) for a 69 Barracuda. Also, my 70's original sixpack will not clear the hood without that cutout. It has stock motor mounts for the 340.
:wtf: