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John Cobb drew a nice shape and packed his machinery into it, and held the record far longer than anyone else. Mickey Thompson didn't even use a tapered tail, and missed the record by a technicality even after adding superchargers. The Summers Bros. used a more slender, tapered shape, with more HP and less frontal area to finally get Cobb's record. These days, traction, acceleration, and stability/downforce dominate LSR designs.
If you want to see how much engine men think about airflow, just try to find a streamlined roll bar. A bit of cardboard and tape can halve the drag on those, and proper fairings are far better than that.
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