500 vs 512 from 400ci

This is 440 based 512 with BCR griddle, 1150 dominator, 9 years of racing and street driving, 850NA + 350 shot when racing. Do some people get lucky and others don’t?
What’s the trick here…

I’m trying to make the best of what I can afford. Unfortunately 6000$ block is out of my budget.

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