I'm puzzled, you have a nearly completed bracket or street shootout type car there that is real nice, but you talk of the expense being too much.
The reason I bracket race instead of class race is the expense and work involved with class racing....maybe when I was younger, and if I had ten times the money, I'd be a class racer.
Nothing is cheap about class racing, from the entry fees to having a legal car that runs close to or under the indexes.
There is no cheaper way to race competitively than "no rules", run what ya brung brackets, and you can do it every week in your locale, that weather permits.
I get 700 to 1200 runs from an engine.....well, there was that used one that I only got 250 or so out of.
Class racing will involve serious travel time and expense if you want to have grade points to run the big events.
Just curious what makes you think a class car would be cheaper?