Ford 272 C.I. runs low 11's. Why do Mopar guys need 408's?

Lead69, Let me give you a real life example. Last year at NNN, I literally was in a slow van. When I had the competition coming around me by 30 mph in the 1/8 mile race, it was so hard to know if I should stay in it, back off a tad the last 20 ft, or anything else. There also was a head/cross wind and how did that effect the vans run?? You don't know till it's too late. It wasn't a cake walk by no means. But I had the van tuned and consistent. Only ran 400ths off from the worst pass to the best pass
I understand but the weather/track conditions are experienced by all the racers so it's really how much do you trust your vehicle?. Every "slow" car I have owned/bracket raced I made a full pass out the back door and it was rare that I ever broke out/lost on a "decent" pass. Out of all the times I had to chase a car down it was 50/50 most of the time if they made a decent pass and I was making a better one. Less room for error when things happen faster.