Main thing to remember and to keep you out of trouble is.
It's a marathon and not a sprint.
Lot's of people will be going "balls to the wall" at the start and it might knock you out in the first lap. To avoid this, especially on cold tires, is to go easy until you get some space then just race your laps. Race against yourself until towards the last 50 laps of so.
There will be teams of 2 drafting, I suspect that these guys will start lapping the laggers within 10 laps of the start. Always let cars pass on the inside. Don't get in their way or it'll get messy quick. Use your mirrors and take the highline if your blue flagged. NEVER PASS ON THE OUTSIDE, if you find yourself stuck, ease off the throttle.
To see the correct way of 2 or 3 car drafting, I suggest you log into FM Oval server and just watch these guys race.
Looking forward to a fun race. Like Deco said, I'd love to see everyone finish the race in one piece.