Pedal ratio can certainly have an effect, but everyone knows that. So, it's not like nobody else is doing it. But there's a tradeoff.
Several years ago when Tony Schumacher was king of the TF wars we were talking after he lost on a hole-shot and he told me that he preferred a slower pedal. I thought he was crazy. Then he explained: A quick pedal (he said) would make him about .02 quicker on the starting line. But it would cripple his ability to recover when he needed to pedal the car if it shook or puffed the tires. He said the quick pedal is a switch, and the slow pedal is a regulator. He told me to look it up.
If I remember correctly, the previous year he lost on three hole-shots, and won seven pedal fests. He said he was very happy with that.
There's always more going on than you can see from the stands or on TV.
And the set up of the cars has a tremendous affect as well. Remember the Ron Capps Tommy Johnson deal when both drove Skoal cars?
Alan