I've also had recent experience where good drivers bomb the first corner. With the big, wide bumpers, there is no disadvantage to doing so. It's not like 1:1 racing where you might harm your front end shooting for the first corner in a F1 race. In RC, the qualifying system encourages the slower qualified cars to bomb the corner to "catch up."
Last weekend we spent 3 rounds of qualifying to get the cars placed about 2.5' - 3' apart for the main. Going from 2nd to last in 3 seconds sucks and is definately not very exciting. All the driving practice and car set up to get a good qualification spot becomes worthless as your entire race is now dependant on how fast a marshall can retrieve your car.
I also think the racing should emphasize less qualifying and more racing. I would like to see two - 3 minute qualifiers with 20 - 30 minute mains broken up into 2 -3 legs.