Rant: Horsepower/muscle car tv shows

missed the show but were they using a crank that was radiused to where they had to chamfer the rods and the bearings were already chamfered? and was the power numbers at the wheels? maybe a bad converter or bad trans not directing the power to the wheels throwing numbers off significantly.Or possibly a improperly center lined cam giving up a lot of power. Mechanic friend i know retarded his sons clevelands valve train and it was weak for a 351 but when he turned 18 the old man set it straight up and it was a screamer. Something isnt right on this show.