I'm sorry, but it's a lot bigger angle from a car. From the stands, you're seeing it from the side.
As for "rocket science", have you ever raced? The goal is absolute focus. Minimum eye movement. You never want to move your eyes (let alone your whole head) very far. Just a few inches down from the stage bulb, there's your top yellow... focus... focus... GO.
What about cars that have little or no side view (eg most funny cars)?
And none of what you say addresses the staging process. How exactly does the courtesy stage work?
There is NO WAY they'll run four cars at once in a National Event. Even NHRA, as meandering and off the rails as it seems to be lately, isn't that silly.