When I was in oval track, lots of guys would run without an alternator, but have to put it on a charger between races.(way before Optima)
IMHO The infinitesimal gain of horsepower WITHOUT an alternator, is not advantageous enough to put the 'in the back of your mind' addition of starting, ignition, cooling fan electrical drain. I always ran without a crew(no one wanted to WORK at winning) so the less I had to worry about the better. I never had a dns/dnf cuz I ran out of juice as many others did. I always had plenty of battery to hot start and had full juice available for the ignition.