Cross may have been a little too high for the spring combo on the rear.
With the mandatory gear, the only other way to get the car really really rolling is to put bigger circumference tires on it. This can be accomplished by letting the tires sit with 30-50 lbs of air in them in an attempt to let them grow.
Also, something I didn't find out until right before the race is that the chip was not mandatory since they were running restrictor plates. I"m pretty sure that picked us up a couple of tenths at least.
For Lanier, with the bandos on restrictors and a stock gear, it really comes down to getting all the binds out of the car. It needs to be "free" handling, with as little steering input as possible. Since your driver is new, it will be tough to get good information regarding the handling of the car. You really have to watch the car close going through the corners. If you can see the front tires move, there is a handling problem. If you see the driver turning to the left way too much, the car needs to be loosened up a bit. If the driver is steering slightly to the right to keep from spinning, the car needs to be tightened up a bit.
Generally at the racetrack we make these adjustments with the rear springs. If the car is too loose, we'll back off of the rr spring 1/2 round and put 1/2 round into the lr. If the car is too tight, it'll be opposite (screwing into the rr and screwing off of the lr).
Hope this helps, let me know if you are goin to Cordele this weekend.