diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index 54a9c2a25b..a1a4231357 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -208,6 +208,7 @@ jobs:
       GOFLAGS: "-mod=readonly -p=2" # Go on Circle thinks 32 CPUs are available, but there aren't.
       TEST_RESULTS: /tmp/test-results
     working_directory: /go/src/github.com/influxdata/influxdb
+    parallelism: 8
     steps:
       - checkout
 
@@ -227,7 +228,14 @@ jobs:
       - install_rust_compiler
       - run: mkdir -p $TEST_RESULTS
       - run: make test-go # This uses the test cache so it may succeed or fail quickly.
-      - run: GOTRACEBACK=all GO111MODULE=on FLUX_PARSER_TYPE=rust CGO_LDFLAGS="$(cat .cgo_ldflags)" gotestsum --format standard-quiet --junitfile /tmp/test-results/gotestsum.xml -- -race -count=1 -tags 'libflux' ./...
+      - run:
+          name: parallel go race tests
+          command: |
+            set +e
+            # filter internal/promqltests because it has special go.mod
+            TESTFILES=$(go list ./... | grep -v internal/promqltests | circleci tests split --split-by=timings)
+            echo $TESTFILES
+            GOTRACEBACK=all GO111MODULE=on FLUX_PARSER_TYPE=rust CGO_LDFLAGS="$(cat .cgo_ldflags)" gotestsum --format standard-quiet --junitfile /tmp/test-results/gotestsum.xml -- -race -count=1 -tags 'libflux' $TESTFILES
       - save_cache:
           name: Saving GOCACHE
           key: influxdb-gocache-{{ .Branch }}-{{ .Revision }}