The advantage to starter boxes comes in the form of more reliability and little bit more engine power.

Engines with pull starts or those little electric starters that plug into the back of the engine have a few extra parts in them to allow for the starters to do their job. There will be a "one way" bearing in those motors, which allows the pullcord or electric starter to spin hte engine up, and once running the "oneway" bearing just freewheels. Sometimes the "oneway" bearing fails, and the pullcord or electric starter then can't turn the engine and it won't start, also the "oneway" casuses a slight bit of drag when the engine is running and robs a tiny bit of the available power. Cleaning and/or replacing the "oneway" bearing is the fix when your pullcord or electric starter can't get the motor to turn.

Engines used with starter boxes don't have the extra parts, they deliver all their power to the car when running, and starter boxes are very reliable and have plenty of power to spin up stubborn or balky engines. You don't see RTR's using starter boxes because of the extra expense and it's another piece of equipment to lug around...

That said, you should be able to use a starter box with your 8ight, as long as the engine's flywheel is low enough in the chassis for the wheel of the starter box to engage it.

Don't worry for now about the very slight power gaiin that non-stater box engines might have... the slight drag of the "oneway" on your engine is such a small thing that I doubt most people could notice it. The real reason most non-pull or electric start engines are as strong as they are is that they're built to a higher state of tune which makes them more powerful and also more finicky than their pull-start cousins. Just what racers want, not so important for beginners who just want their engines to start and run reliably.