the 9.5 would not be the easiest thing to race. If you were a verygood driver, and had your 9.5 suspension tuned perfectly then yah i can be raced competively, but this buggy wasnt made for racing its for bashing. The best racer buggy i would reccmend to a buggy newbie is the Jammin' x1 RTR. Its the same design has its big bro the jammin' X1-CR PRO, without all the fancy parts. It can be upggraded to the PRO later on after you get some more skill. this buggy is alot more raceable then the 9.5, becuase it was designed to do so. I highly reccomend it, and you will definetly not be disappointed if you get it.