"Side Gapping" Plugs...brilliant or needless?

[Scubachef]

I've been thinking about the pros and cons of this since I first heard about it. Apparently an old racer's trick was to cut the arm on a spark plug to about the midpoint of the center electrode, clean the cut well, clean for contamination and gap .10 tighter than the proper spec. This allowed the spark to travel a short distance at an angle and the arm no longer shrouds the spark and this is the major advantage...so they say.

I was wondering if anyone has feedback on cutting the electrode on a spark plug to allow a more complete combustion, a few more HP and better MPG...so they say

Thanks