Kevin, I race at Kinetics, you should come join us some Thursday! Or just join the FB group for info. We have some very knowledgeable guys and the class has a very loyal following.
Keep it to TCS rules. I was originally against this, as Tamiya hopups are so much more expensive, but the quantity of other aftermarket hopups means people will feel they will need to dump TC money into their cars. We allow any body because there are a lot of fun options but other than that we follow TCS. A couple of us race silvercans, the rest race BL probably just because people think a $75 motor has to be better than a $15 one. One of our racers who consistently places in the top has a 100% box stock car aside from bearings (even uses friction shocks!). At the club level, these cars are all about the driver. Hopups and setting adjustments do make a big difference in handling but overall laps times remain the same because clean, consistent lines are what wins. Bearings, shocks (the super minis are a cheap, as-good alternative to the pricey TRF ones) and S-grip tires are the only things we've found to be highly recommended, everything else you can easily live without.
To start the class, get a couple guys to get minis. Once other racers realize that you really can take a $150 car, go from kit to track and be competitive, they'll be hooked. People get tired of chasing the next magical must-have part and enjoy getting back to just plain racing. Also a great class for newbies, because the kit is super easy to build, its cheap and these things can take a beating.