Make sure you take some precautions...
Try to cover the underside, where the center drivetrain is visible. Little rocks tend to get in there, and wear away at your rod. Also, I've had pebbles get in my slipper, and prevent adjustments, etc. For gearing, try 12/54 for racing. You could possibly gear it up a little, depending on your mains and qualifiers lengths. Tires for racing, go with either AKA Enduros, or Proline Calibers. They're my 2 favorite tires. For indoor, the Jconcepts Goosebumps, or the AKA Wishbones. Some common things to look out for are...the center drive hub, towards the front. They give you a plastic one, and it strips out pretty easily. I believe they make an aluminum upgrade now. Your sway bar kit will be a great addition, as will the center diff for racing. You'll notice a big difference over the standard slipper, on a track at least. I didn't have any problem at all with breaking A-Arms personally, so if I were you, and you don't currently have any lipos.. I'd get 1 or 2 2s lipos, and a nice charger. Check out hobbyking.com for great prices on lipos. They're cheap, and effective! I've ran their 4S Flightmaxx lipos in my 1/8 buggy for a month now, many runs on each, and haven't had a problem at all, runtime wise for qualifers, or mains. Good luck with racing!