Will launching the car in second gear (or third) hurt the transmission?

I’m trying to slow the car down about a second for a few races to run in sportsman (12.0 and slower dial)…my car runs 10.80’s normally. I can add enough weight to the car to make it run a between 10.95 and 11.00, so this is my thought to get that last second:

Launch the car in second gear (~0.4 seconds)…or possibly launch in 3rd (not sure what that would do).
Remove the carburetor's secondary linkage so it can’t open (~0.3 seconds).
Retard timing 7 degrees to 27° total (~0.3 seconds).

So, do the times for each suggestion sound about right for slowing the car down?
Does this sound like it would work, and will any of this possibly hurt the motor or trans (this is my MAIN concern)???

Any help, or previous experience with trying any of these is appreciated, thanks!