Auto Racing: valves per cylinder???, symbals, symbal

Question
i have been driving for many years now and on many cadillacs i see the 32 valve symbal on the back of the car. my moms intrepid ( a 24 valve DOHC rocket) is has the same symbals (24 valve, DOHC). which essentially equate to 4 valves per cylinder. and i recently got an email about some LSx heads (GM) that have 32 valves.

my question is whats up with the valves per cylinder and what do they have to do with going fast?  

Answer
It honestly doesn’t have as much to do with horse power output as you are thinking. It is a more efficient design which helps create more power and be more efficient. Your cars output more depends upon things like cam profile, compression, timing, head flow, exhaust flow, etc... If you are looking for further explanation please let me know.