I don't know about metalurgy (or much else either). But a couple of years ago I was talking to Earl Wooden about a recent run in his streamliner. He had the zoot-zoot carbon fiber brakes. Well, anyway, he aborted a run (hope that's politcally correct) and hit the brakes. Boy, I guess it stopped. But the heat from the brakes melted the wheel weights and fried the tires. Maybe he could have taken a little longer to stop, but they sure worked well. Any way, he was embarassed having stopped on the course, decided to restart and get off there before Glenn gave him hell. Restarted, put it in gear and fried the clutch, too, as everything was locked up.
I still haven't got us some carbon fiber (fibre?) brakes. Seems these slow roadsters stop pretty well by just letting off the throttle.