low budget bracket racing blues

ok guys..heres my story.took a bunch of accumulated used parts threw it all together into a lightweight car to do some footbrake bracket racing. went to several test n tune sessions,made some changes here n there...heres where im at now...

concerns: trans always has made a loud whining/howling noise. only makes the noise when its in gear (not in N or P). always shifted well,no noticed slipping, works (or worked)very well.

results: during test and tune sessions car performed very well overall...good enough for me to feel comfortable enough to enter it into its first race 2 days ago. as the air got better (as the day went on) the car kept picking up. figured it was jetted a little rich but didnt wanna change anything during the race. had to learn some topend tactics,and armed with my test and tune info i was able to make it to the final round where we split the payout! very exciting for a first race!
race 2: yesterday went to a different track. the track surface was much better than the day before,and my 60 foot times were VERY close,but my et's went all over the place.instead of getting faster like the day before,the car undialable...up,down,up,down.ended up going out in the 3rd round due to the car running .13 slower than the last pass (but only .01 slower than the pass before that)!
im wondering if ol whiney (727) is giving me up. close 60 foot times-et's all over the place- mph IDENTICAL ON EVERY PASS!
has a deep pan with cooling tubes running front to rear,and a radiator mounted cooler...on the return road i was shutting off the engine and coasting back to the trailer (electric fans and water pump running/cooling the engine). didnt think about it til today...but did i cook the fluid (not pumping with engine shut down?)...so i pulled the stick. it looks fine,but has a very faint burnt smell.
forgot to mention the car shifts itself..im sure it can do it more consistently than i can!

am i cooking the fluid coasting in with the engine shut down?
should i run whiney with new fluid/filter til she comes unglued?
has ol whiney given up its ghost?
does the stupid et's but consistent mph and 60ft's even sound like a trans problem?
input please!!