I'll weigh in on this one (please it's just my own opinion) I have too agree with your friend about the alum rods and circle track racing. Look at the stats, i would venture too say that not one NASCAR team uses alum rods. There is a reason for that, alum rods move around and don't have the durability of steel or TIT, rods. Drag racers use them in blown cars too soften the hit on the bearings and they rev quicker. but the down side is that they also cap walk, even with serrated or hollw dowel locators. Blown fuel or blown alcohol cars don't get much over 50 passes if that, before they junk the rods, on hard chargers. A normally asperated car can get mybe 400/500 passes in a drag car situation.
Now back to circle track racing every hard lap you make it would seem to me you cycle the engine 2 times, which would be like 2 hard passes at the drag strip, plus as seen in other post a lot of people kick the hard charging cars into nutural at the finish line, but every cycle on a round track engine you are using the engine for braking, putting extra stress on the rods, not normally done with a drag car.
You can buy Eagle or Scat "H" beam 5.7 rods for around $250.00, and in my opinion it would be a better/safer engine build.
JMO
Zip.