YouTube: Race Number 2 With The "A" Group
 

Here is my second video of my race tonight. I'm the guy in the blue/orange kit.

I was bumped up to the "A" group tonight. The previous race I went in an all out sprint so my legs were tired in this one. The pace is so much faster that I was caught off guard. Tactics seem to change a bit for me too. I cannot sit on the back and expect to power through to the front anymore. Refs upgraded me to Cat 4 today :)

Good job! You're learning tactics, which is the whole idea. Track racing isn't just about physical power, but also positioning and timing.
Because the races are so short, you don't have time to move up and should never just hang out at the back. You need to try and stay in the front third all the time, even if it means crowding another rider to force him to relinquish his spot in the line.

About how fast were you going?

Using the video as a reference and some math (speed = distance/time) I get the following:

Lap 1 of video :06s - :40s = :36s || 24.8 mph
Lap 2 of video :40s - 1:12s = :32s || 27.9 mph
Lap 3 of video 1:12s - 1:47s = :35s || 25.5 mph
Lap 4 of video 1:47s - 2:16s = :29s || 30.8 mph

Average speed in video = 27.25 mph
Max speed on my computer was 34.8 mph

I'm sure the guys up front had a much higher max speed.

That seems about right for a Cat 4 race. When I ride Cat 3 or open master's, the average speed is over 30 mph and max speed in a sprint is close to 40 mph. Also, there is a lot more attacking and chasing going on during the race.

Watching this makes me want to drive to a Velodrome and start trying to race....

same here....the velodrome closest is like 1.5 hours away, but this is making me want to get my buddies in the car to drive over on the next free saturday.

Jesus. I can't imagine maxing above 40 right now. I want to learn what I can do to work towards that. It just seems like an impossible goal right now. Average speed over 30 is my sprint lap. I feel like i'm a power racer and do well in chariots, pursuits, and anything under 6 laps. But once it hits 12+ laps i'm begging for oxygen dying in the back.

It's all about the proper training, and motorpacing can help a lot with speed. You need to do specific interval training to raise your anaerobic threshold and work on leg speed in a sprint. Practice 20 second spinouts in a 46 x 16, then 46 x 15. Then when you race in 46 x 14 you'll be able to hit a higher cadence, which translates to higher top speed. Also, what type of warmup are you doing before you race? You should first warm up in a lower gear, say 46 x 16, before switching to your race gear. Also, it's good to do some stretching before you race. Note that when I said close to 40 mph in a sprint, I didn't mean sustained for a full lap, but just the final 200m at most and upper 30's, not over 40. Remember that Power = Torque x RPM, so the faster you spin, the more power you produce, which translates into more speed.

Right now since i'm brand new my warm up and race gear is both the same. 49x15 ~ 86gi.

I'm going to pick up a 13 (98gi), 14 (91gi) and 16 (80gi) dura-ace cog soon. I figure i'll use the 49x16 for warm up and 49 x 14 for racing. I can put on 2 cogs on 1 wheel and just flip the wheel around versus having to swap them out every time.

I'm trying to be economic in the purchase and avoid getting a bigger chain ring for the moment.

Warm up before a race is just a 20 lap pace line with everyone else racing that night. I constantly roll in the inner circle field while i'm not racing to keep my legs fresh.

I want to see if a larger gear inch will help my max speed. Right now I figure likely not since i'm not maxing out my cadence with my current setup.

Regarding your race gearing. 49x15 is pretty close for most folks at the Cat 4 level. You could perhaps go to 50x15 or 47x14, but anything higher will probably make you slower. 49x14 is way too high for anyone except a true masher with all slow twitch muscle. The highest gear I've ever used is 48x14. I'd suggest getting only 14T and 16T cogs, and adding a 47 tooth chainring. That will allow you to race either 49x15 as you do now or 47x14, which is about 88gi or 2gi higher. Either way, you can put the 16T on one side of the hub for warmup and the flip to the other side for racing.