Richard wrote:
....
The elevator - and the trim tab - do a LOT of work on a race plane at
500mph. And a lot at 200 too.

Absolutely.

Add to that there is a lot of speed changes as the aircraft hits the turns.

The winning pilot minimizes speed loss and G forces through the turns.

TANSTAAFL...

That's why to optimize the airplane for top speed, the slow speed
performance suffers.