i guess i'll get into this too a bit. I'm a local racer, never been to a national/big race, but plan on this year(theres your 2%, lol). i race at a small club, every now and then go to Roadrage, have been to trackside once. My plan, is to make one set of foams last one season at my lhs. I don't true them down, but after the season I keep them at my house shop until a bigger race comes to my attention. I've always raced on foams, come to think of it, i never have run rubber on carpet, only asphalt. Running foams on anything that abbrasive as asphalt is insane, think of it, look at wisconsin, our parking lots suck, haha. The weird thing is, i have never chunked a tire, ever, i've raced touring cars on carpet for 2 years, i'm okay, A-main club. I get about 3 if i don't break. Ilove to set my car up, yes, it's bad when i go a hole night on a bad setup, it's hard finish the nite, but when i get a setup right, it's a good feeling. I'm the best possible racer for the industry. I'm not really abeginner, this being my 4th year, and i don't use 1500's a speed gem motors, if that gives you a picture. I spend basically every dime i make on the hobby. It's my only hobby, and i don't have a real car quite yet, so what else do i spend money on. The hobby, it's been hard to stay in, with everything being so expensive, but i hang in there, going week in, week out, battling for a decent finish. This hobby is getting to expensive, and beginners are quiting, because setting up a car is to hard, it's to expensive, and parts break when they crash, which is often. The hobby needs to sit back, let the hobby catch up, and then start again. My main problem is batteries, they evolve so fast, you get some you like, and someone already has better ones. If you stick with the hobby, it is addictive, but rewarding. It's very easy to sell the stuff, and get a cheaper hobby though. I'm not though, i love r/c, hey, i get 6 bucks an hour, spend about 1,000 a year, whats better, lol.