Newbie Question - About Rooting/Removing Stock Apps

[jericko]

Hey guys, I am a Android newbie, but have been reading like crazy and still cant wrap my head around a few things. I want to run the stock ROM, and have installed z4root and wifi tether which works for what I need. Is how do I uninstall the stock apps like Nascar and Amazon MP3 service without rooting? If I do root, how do I remove them? Is it Titanium Backup? I install Advanced Task Killer, which seems cool, but why do I always shows apps running that I did not launch? Is there a way to control/stop apps from starting up? Thanks guys for the help! Jason