With all that damage to the rear, I'd start taking weight off the car, and I might put more gear into it. Racing a stick is a real excercise in give and take, and I don't claim to know any real tricks. What I do know is that the lighter the car and the easier it is to make that drivetrain come along... the less breakage you will have. I think it is extremely difficult to get a strong running stick car at the track to have any kind of manners on the street at all. That is why I have two cars.