No - driving is not better on a race day. The parking lot is a mess with the race - runners park there pre-race taking up thousands of spots, then spectators also come in so by the time the park guests are coming, they are parking in random rows with available spots and not in the same orderly fashion as a normal day.
the course typically goes down World Drive, the TTC, and MK and then back to Epcot - best bet is just to stay above it all, literally and monorail around.