well lack of traction definetly is hurting you an will no doubt cost u the race. but as far as chips go i would contact Paul's highperformance, there the one the biggest modular speedshops in the country. u tell him what modifcations u have an he custom burns u a chip an sends it to u. i think its around $400. Or if u have any good speedshops in ur area they can do pretty much the same thing.

Your timeslip should have the weather conditions on it. You can enter those into an online calculator to correct for density alitude. If it was really hot when you guys ran your corrected times should be a couple tenths better.
I forgot how much fun it is running at the track. I'm half-tempted to buy some soft coilovers (easy to swap out and I have adjustable damping) and fats and skinnies with slicks and yank the front sway to try to hit 12s. If I get my 60-ft down to 1.8 and the weather is decent I should be real close based on my run the other day.

Look into getting the diablosport Predator. It will allow you to adjust for the gears plus bump timing and help you get alittle more HP. I am very surprised you did not beat him. My stock 01 Cobra pulled on a 2000 Supercharged Saleen S-281. As far as when to shift your best bet is to get your car dynoed and then look at the graph and decide. Mine is around 6500 rpms for best shifting.