I don't know of anyone who feels they have to spend a fortune to be competitive but maybe that's just me. I spent a fortune many times over since I started this almost 20 years ago but that's because I WANTED to, not because I had to.

Similar to bash fishing, I have a 50k boat, big screen electronics, power poles, and a lifted truck to pull it with. Didn't make me win anymore, I just like nice stuff. I've been beat by 20 year old boats with black and white sonar a times just like I've been beat by lower end buggies with good drivers.

Spend what you're comfortable spending, too many people use money as an excuse NOT to do something, hell I've made huge salaries and been broke, neither made me not do what I wanted to do, just changed the scale on which I invested into it. Either way, it's toy car racing and it's fun, not real car racing. I used to do that too, now there you're talking about real money. A buggy with 1800 bucks in it is change compared to that.