CP, I was just reading through this mess and was coming to the conclusion that is what you stated last. You can't even begin to make a blanket statement theat engine "A" will beat engine "B". Spend the money in the right places and go with a good combo and you will be faster than engine "A" or "B". Different engines are better in different circumstances, race classes, budgets, etc.
So, to ask a question such as this is futile because everyone is going to throw in thier .02 . A quandry such as this deserves specifics. After all, engines don't have wheels, what about the car? How is it set up? Parts? How much is able to be spent on quality parts? At least throw out an engine combo instead of just castings.
Sidenote: In my experience, locally, the winners at the track are generally small blocks, but that probably has something to do with the budgets and personal preferance of alot of racers in the area. I couldn't begin to say one is better than the other.