I however think, you’re over thinking it. There is more to this than what you’re bringing to the table to discuss on and it’s a bit deep. If your trying to gather up a sum of knowledge to build a super beast right out of the gate, I think your not only a long way off but in for a disappointment. Far be it from me to say don’t bother but certainly please do!
If your just interested in building a really nice street strip car, I would suggest setting a target goal in your head with a displacement you can afford/build yourself/easily see doing, etc…
So let’s say you’re interested in building a small block at 380 cubic inches. Your goal is a 9 flat in the 1/4 mile. Right now in your head the only stumbling block is the cylinder head but everything else, save maybe the cam, you know what you want to do.
Call a head porter, talk about what your plans are and what would be a wise cylinder head choice.
Decide on a cylinder head and have the porter check it out and work on it as needed. Find out the flow curve and where the head starts to loose flow. This will help you in valve lift.
The same method for anything you’re building from a grocery getter or hot rod to a street machine or street strip brute and beyond really applies. Since the cylinder head is ether a major limitation or not at all, when the plan is being developed and your head guy is informed you both can work on an angle of attack.
For most engines, the smallest port with the highest flowing cfm is what your looking at and this will carry you pretty darn far. The feet per second isn’t your biggest worry but just a good thing to further help everything.
As long as the fps is in a good and reasonable speed, there’s little worry your engine will create some really nice power, throttle response and mileage if that is also part of the goal.