It sounds to me like you want the car to leave hard, but you are handicapping it by trying to limit the top end mph so you dont need to run the chute.
It would seem more logical to me to do what is necessary to use all the power and tork the motor can make at the start, but limit the top end mph with some sort of throttle stop. Until you can get a chute on there of course. There is good reason to use a chute, not only to slow the car down, but it can straighten you out if you start to go sideways at the top end.
Why would you need to remove the body to redo the back of the car?