issue 904 Race Condition and _async Perf fixes

Chrome Profiling has helped  a ton
@gitnik
@aesnyder
@cthrax 
@kandizzy 

![screen shot 2014-11-23 at 11 42 04 am](https://cloud.githubusercontent.com/assets/583593/5158292/ca8a980e-7305-11e4-8a0a-b33a9825c199.png)