Very cool. Willys was popular for drag conversions due to their diminutive size and weight.
Paraphrasing Car and Driver, in amateur road racing, generally the more money you have, the faster you go. In drag racing, you might have a Dodge Demon, but there will always be a guy who stuffed a big motor in a Pinto that will be quicker than you.
My own personal experience with these sorts of cars was limited to making plastic scale models of them as a teen. Also seeing them, not just Willys, but all sorts of great rods and customs, at the annual car show here in Manhattan, NY. It was called The National Rod & Custom Car Show. Of course, like everything else that was cool about New York City back then, it went the way of the pyramids.
Want to see what a gasser turns into when you really want to go faster?Search YouTube for Wild Willie Borsch and his AA/FX 23T bucket. Those cars were just insane.