RE: Best surface to run tanks on?
Replace all of your grass with golf course bermuda and cut it really short.
It's just the nature of the mechanics that grass will give these tanks a fit. Too many things for the tracks to grab onto and most of the time grass is of a thickness which creates great resistance against something that small trying to maneuver in it.
Most RC vehicles I own have a rougher time in grass than anything else. This goes for my Brushless LST2, Brushless Revo, and Axial SCX10.