Seems some people think that it would diminish the value of a victory by beating someone that is handicapped or vice versa. Here's how I feel about that.
If I'm racing against a better racer in a car that is handicapped to make the performance more on par with my level and I can beat that person, I'd see that as a major victory. I just raced against someone that is better racer than I am and I was able to beat him, either by getting past him or by holding him off, and I've become a better racer. If I'm the guy that is handicapped and I can keep someone that is now faster behind me or get past them, I've become a better racer. If after the race, I can talk to the person I raced with about each of our performances, we are both better racers afterward.
In either case, if I'm having a good battle with someone, regardless of who is handicapped, I'm having a good time. I can be battling for 1st or 15th, I'm still having fun. If there are more people in the battle, all the more fun. It doesn't matter who in the fight is handicapped or not, we all have more fun with a tight battle for the position.
I don't think any hard fought victory is diminished by a handicap. I do think that all hard fought battles on the track are fun, but even more fun is all the talking about it over beers after the race. In my two seasons racing with the group, my favorite race, where I had the most fun, my car broke and I didn't finish the race. What I remember most is that hard fought battle and how much fun it was.
I've learned the most about race craft in hard fought battles for position then talking about what the other racers and myself did during the race after the race. If REWARDS weight, not penalty weight, can help make for more hard fought battles on the track, I all for it.