Agreed, most Lightings with an eaton and 4# or 6# lower dyno around 400/500 which is good for about 12.7 + at the track. Plus he probably didn't race past 60mph which is when cobra's can do some serious damage to a Lightning.
If he raced a KB or Whippled Lightning that had good traction, then I could see him getting pulled on pretty hard.
Yeah, I raced a guy with a bolt on Lightning making around 400/500 back when my Mach was N/A making right at 300/320. The race was dead even from a 30 punch 2 times in a row. I can't see a Cobra (stock or not) losing to anything not heavily modded.