A 96" gear will probably make you effectively *slower* in a 20 lap race. It's way too big to accelerate (and decelerate) quickly, so when the jump goes, you'll be chasing. If you attack, then everyone else will probably have more acceleration than you and have no trouble staying on your wheel.
88 to 92 seems typical for a smooth 250 m track (even in the 1/2's), with some bigger gears in higher level races where higher speeds are sustained for longer, and the accelerations are smaller (because the speed is already high).