Think of two runners on a track. One of them moves past the other and keeps going, so the gap behind her gets wider every second. That gap is the whole word. Whatever outstrip is used for — speed, results, or numbers — it says that one side went past the other and left it behind, not that it won by a hair.
From the word’s history
Wiktionary gives out- (a prefix meaning exceeding or surpassing) plus strip in an old sense 'to move or pass by quickly' — literally, to go past something fast.
字典把它拆成 out-（勝過、超出）加上 strip；strip 在舊英文裡有「快速通過」的意思。字面就是「很快地從旁邊過去」，跟今天那個拉開距離的畫面完全對得上。
Wiktionary entry for outstrip, etymology: "From out- (prefix forming verbs with the sense of exceeding or surpassing) + strip ((obsolete) to move or pass by quickly)." (kaikki extract kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:827913310:22271)
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