Hot Rod scoops

I was watching a show about some guys building a hot rod and the guys put a scoop on each carb. They pointed them back saying that everyone points them that way because they might work better or something. Is this true? I would think that pointing them forward would get more of a ram-air effect. By the way, the engine was open to the air, there wasn't any hood.

You used to see setups like that alot on stuff running tripple 2bbl carbs. Not quiet sure of the benifits, from a technical standpoint it would create a field of low pressure where the openings are at, and thus resulting in less flow and less dense air. It would probably be better than having the stacks point strait up as that would create a "syphon effect" where it would accually be pulling against the air being sucked into the carb. Also if they were sat pointing forward the one in the front would catch alot more air than the one behind it and the one behind that. So from looking at those options pointing them to the back would work better it looks like.