I'd believe it - gearing is a huge part of straight line acceleration. Think of timing 0-20 MPH from a stop in 1st gear vs starting in 2nd gear. It's about getting to and keeping the motor in it's power band. I would think the 5.0 would be more gear sensitive than the EB simply because of the power band - 5.0 makes peak torque and HP higher in the RPM range so that first to second gear time would probably account for a good chunk of ET not running in the ideal power band - then at the end of the run where wind resistance plays a larger part the 3.73 is also helping.