@mjeii6 i'm not sure of the race you're refering to but this has been an issue on previous events, just a few tips,
1/ avoid ramps - although you'll get nitro you'll lose any acceleration you could have gained,
2/ take corners as tight as possible with minimal drifting - you lose a lot of speed on a high angle drift and more often than not you lose the racing line
3/ obviously avoid hitting anything
4/ use nitro as you are exiting a corner onto a straight - personally i think using nitro through a corner is a waste
generally nitro usage has been a bit of a hot topic in these parts, some players say keep hitting nitro when available others say wait until its built up and use it on long staights
there were a few hunter races in the silvia special event a few months ago that caused a few issues and you almost had to run the "perfect" racing line to beat it, but it was beatable (although it took me about 7-10 attempts!)