[quote=ewashburnaf;9412451]to be honest, your best bet is to go to the local track and see what those guys are running... quote]

+1.

See how your local racing programme operates and what cars are used, and how friendly the club is. If you are made to feel welcome it's a good indicator of the people you will be racing with.

Watching a few races will show you what speed you can expect to race at and learn the track a little.

I have used a Futaba 9550 for at least 3 seasons now and had no issues, they appear to be a very solid, low profile servo

A 30C lipo should be good enough for 17.5, (make sure it is hard cased and 2C) find out where to get the spec tyres from, pick up a good deal on equipment and get racing