I'm not into speed runs but I'll put my 2 cents in
I would think higher kv motor will give less initial amp draw making it easier on the esc. Being a lighter motor with less amp draw you could use slightly lighter batteries as well. An example would be the novak hv set up, the motor is an amp hog but the esc is only good for 60A (half of the mmm).
The trade off would be less efficiency from the esc at speed due to the high switching rate but your not getting to those speeds much by the sounds of it.
1:1 speed run cars take as much time as they need to get to their terminal speed but with rc your limited buy the radio and or track so it's more of a drag race and
any possible weight you can lose is going to help.