A lot depends on what you want do with it. You noted "racing" so do you plan to actually go to a track and race? Or do you plan to just have fun with it driving it on the street, off-road, wherever? If you want something that you can just go anywhere and drive it, jump hills and such (they call that "bashing"
then I would suggst the HPI Bullet MT. I don't own any. of the cars you mentioned, but out of those that is my suggestion, simply because HPI is known for their exteme durability and I've heard posiive things about the Bullet MT.
With that, may I suggest one more car? The Hyper 7 buggy. You can get it for under $300. That would be my recommendation for anyone new to "the hobby" that wants to get into nitro.
http://www.nitrohouse.com/product.as...FSWoPAodd3QAeg