Workhorse Pit throat design

[nicetomeatyou]

I was hoping to get some thoughts on the throat design on the Workhorse Pits smokers. The opening is a half moon located at the bottom of the cook chamber and starts 6 or so inches down from the top of the firebox. I have often seen that the throat must be position at the top of the firebox or heat has a difficult time naturally exiting. Is there something different about the overall design of these pits that makes that a moot issue or is that an often overstated non-issue?