I agree with ssp. The cars were not the same. Def a kart vs. a car.
I had a friend in high school that had an old Road Runner. He stuck a Hemi in it and it was so heavy, he couldn't drag race it properly (his family owned a Dodge dealership - LUCKY!). It was getting really low times because of all the weight (back when cars were made of metal). :P When you sat in the car while it was on, you had to yell a bit to hear one another. It even sounded heavy. LOL.
While I prefer old cars and roadsters, it was impressive. That car def won top-end, taking off so quickly.