I am in the process of building up a touring car to race Stock 17.5. I'd race Mod but no one races it at my local track.
Here's what I've spent (prices not including tax) all bought locally:
Tamiya 416X - $520
TP 5200 50C - $119
Futaba 9551 - $80
M11x Rx - $119
LRP SXX SS - Prepaid - $220
LRP StockSpec X-12 17.5 - Prepaid - $80
AMB Transponder - bought used - $75
Jaco Blues - $30
Protoform body - $25
Total - $1268 - not including tax, Tx and charger and whatever misc stuff I missed. I guess you gotta pay to play.
I still need to buy weight, an extra lipo, paint, backup parts and optional parts so when I'm all done I'm thinking I'll have spent close to $1500 to $1600 including tax and then there are maintenance costs. Now cost could be killing rc racing just a little bit. You think?
Aside from the initial start-up costs, I think MFR's need to stop sponsoring Stock racers and focus on sponsoring Super Stock and Mod racers ONLY and I think ROAR is trying to do this by changing the Stock class rules regarding sponsorship. This move will make the experienced Stock racers move up to SS or Mod to get the MFR sponsorships and leaving the Stock class to beginners and unsponsored racers. Just my $.02.