Clevelands are well known to be high RPM screamers with some work done, that was part of the appeal back in the day. Clevelands dominated NASCAR up untiil about 1984 when it was dropped for a 351 Windsor with a Cleveland top half (basically a Boss 302 but with a 351 block) until 2009, when the FR9 was developed. The FR9 engine built by Roush-Yates resembles a 351C in a lot of ways. Parts won't interchange, but similarities betwen them are pretty apparent.
Yes, there is some change over time, various weakness fixed etc, but for the most part, just about every NASCAR engine has roots or is based on the 351 Cleveland. The basic design was clsoe to state of the art; it was a engine that could run down big blocks of the day. And it shows too. If you disect them all and laid them out, you can find very distinct similarities between a standard production 351C (more specifically, the high compresion 4V version with closed chamber heads, or better yet, the Boss 351 Mustang engine) and it's NASCAR variant. Clevelands quite plainly were the king of small blocks until the LS1 came out; and rumour has it that the LS1 was designed similarly to the C. I actually think the heads bolt onto each others respective enigne block. I have been told that the small block 5.7L used in Tundra TRD's is actually pretty close to the Cleveland as well; but I can't say for sure. This would kind of make sense since Toyotas engine is based off of the trucks small blocks, and the NASCAR variant has some noticeable similarities.
The FR9 motor is based on the Boss 302 style engine, with a Windsor type block and Cleveland top end; but it's not either of those engines, more so based on them with the same architechure and what not.
(yeah I know why it's called small).
