This is wrong as far as the CTS physics are concerned, their power peaks at 8000 RPM and therefore 8500 or even 9000 would be too much on a large track such as Cali. If you expect to be in the draft during the race, set the gearing up for drafts.

If you actually use cup physics, their power peaks much later and the difference between corner and straight line speeds are bigger, so you want to rev them close to the limiter in qual trim (to have some power coming off the corners), and a few hundred RPM lower in race trim to keep the temperatures down so you can put more tape on the nose, which is more helpful than a few extra BHP.