A lot of that is also the parameters of the test engine and the cylinder heads. What Rich showed was really good IMO and probably saved a lot of guys some money. But it is not always the case.
Much of it is in how the cylinder head flows and where it stops flowing more at higher and higher lifts. Also small duration cams really don’t allow much time for air to get in. So if the extra lift is there and the time is short with not so great flowing ports beyond what cam number 1 lifted to, then there really is no point of f getting the high lift cam.
IMO, I like to take advantage of the cylinder heads flow capability. Not so much for the daily driver or mild hot rod, but more so for the heavy street hitter or race car.