Advice for anyone struggling with the third race:
1) Get the vitamin-XXX before starting, from the guy that sells beer next to the store BUT BE CAREFUL, you can only drink it once per race, so save before attempting the race. Before attempting the race it will ask you if you want to drink it.
2) Believe it or not, the race is FAR more easy if you go the other way around, at least for me. Instead of going right at the beginning, go left, believe, it did a really significant difference, at least for me, as long as you get every star you shouldn't have any problem