[simplechamp]

Regardless of the gearing and tire ballooning the vehicle should run the same during practice and during a race. Like he said he wasn't running the race much harder than practice, so if there was going to be an increased temp it should only be a little bit. If the gearing and tire ballooning were the cause it would overheat in practice too, not just racing.

I would think something happened during the race that is now causing the overheating. The issue is figuring out what that cause is. Try another couple practice runs without changing anything and see if it still thermals. If it still thermals you know something has changed. If it runs cool then that's a tough call. If you really think you are driving it the same during practice and the actual race it shouldn't be any different.