I don't see why there would be performance improvements but to remove the sprint apps (tv, nascar, navigation) you need to root your phone.
Sent from my HTC EVO 4G
Sprint didn't feel it necessary to fill our phones up with that crap
All we have is Sprint ID and Sprint Zone. That's it.
I know this one guy that wrote a post that you might be interested in ...
[How-To] Remove Sprint Bloatware with root.
Same concept but complete different phone, different kernel, different framework.
I would warn you to be extremely careful traveling down this path right now until a couple of old hacks like Beezy and myself can travel it first.
Anytime you even want to think about the system directory (which is where protected crap is housed) you need to be rooted. No root, no /system.