Congrats on the win! Axle and wheel prep is part of it. Burnishing graphite into the wheel bore is how you get longevity as well as consistent times. I will never add graphite to the wheels prior to a race or during. My Mxquad said, it'll slow you down. Typically, if you haven't spun your wheels very much after wheel prep and graphite is added, your slowest times will be runs 1-4. Using John's graphite we've found our fastest and most consistent times to be runs 9-12.