RE: What truggy for racing dirt track?
The Losi RTR is a great place to start. If anything though be prepared to have to buy new servos.
Servos in RC are THE main area where you DO have to spend a bit more for quality... Try some Savox 1258's maybe for a decent price.. ACE 1015's, Hitec 7955's are expensive but bullet-proof..
Another option to consider is buying used. BUT - IF SO, BE VERY VERY CAREFUL. You have to have a bit of a clue here, to trust the seller, and even to have a bit of luck. But you can find the best deals for your money.. If you don't trust that path, don't do it. That's what I do nowadays though, cuz you can just get great values with servos, tuning, extra tires, whatever.. But it IS a bit of a crapshoot.
A more ultimate package would look something like this:
1.) roller - I would get a Serpent Cobra T. An Associated RC8T CE or Mugen MBX6T would also be GREAT. (I'd get the Asso actually if it were cheaper enough than the Serpent.. The Associated would BY FAR be the easiest to find parts for..)
2.) 2x Savox 1258's, or maybe one 1258 for gas and a 1256 for steering..
3.) Werks B5 engine
4.) used 2013 or 2058 or maybe a new 2035 pipe(less ideal than the Werks pipe, but cheap and good enough..)
5.) used startbox on ebay
6.) used radio and receiver on ebay
With some discount codes and luck and special offers, that should be doable for under $1000.. Tower Hobbies has sizeable discount codes. You'd have a decent resale value too if you went whole-hog and took care of things - as far as that's possible in RC..
It's a lot of money I know, but you'd have a bad-ass truck that is at the forefront of what's available. I anyway would look at it as a project to get it all as cheaply as possible, get it all put together well, to break in the engine, than off you go to the track.. It's a cool feeling to spend a couple weeks building something, then have it finally finished, all shiny up on the table to look at..
With the Losi RTR yeah, you get in a bit more cheaply, but six months down the road you will almost certainly be up towards a grand anyway, once you replace the servos and invest whatever else needs to be invested for racing... I know people say that all the time - spend up front and save in the long run.. It's painful, but ultimately it's right......
Building is kind of fun too if you take your time.. You can't really screw it up like I used to think you could. Just follow some builds on forums, ask questions, see what other people have done, etc...
In any case, you also need some decent tools!!...