Ok guys, time to get your thinking caps on!

First, some data from Mid Ohio:
SI lap record 1:38.0 (Dean Martin) but that is with 3.73 rear gear, not the 3.31 they're required to run now
CMC lap record 1:39.1 (Derek Wright)

Top lap times from Champs weekend qual race:
SI: 1:38.8, 1:39.3, 1:39.5, 1:39.4, 1:38.7
CMC: 1:39.6, 1:39.3, 1:39.3, 1:39.1, 1:39.4
AI: 1:34.1 (which ended up being a new lap record by Hartman...most AI cars were in the low 1:35s)

FYI the SI cars are all fat, choosing to run at the 4.6 3V power limit of ~300hp/305ft lbs and corresponding 3550lbs or so. In other words, they're running at about 12.0/1 lbs/hp compared to CMC LS cars which are more like 12.7/1

So an AI car is 4.5 seconds faster than CMC but an SI car is only 4 tenths faster? When looking at SI and CMC rules, I would've expected a fairly decent times gap between SI and CMC...but the difference is in fact quite small. I'd like to hear if you guys think it makes sense and I'm being unreasonable in my mind.