The question is, basically, what do you want to get out of your racing? 305's were not intended to be a starter class for people who wanted to race 410's. Way back in 2002-3, before I ever got a sprint car, I spoke to French Grimes, the founder of the class. French asked that question of me. My answer was "I want to race a sprint car and see how far I can go with it". French told me to skip the 305's. He said that they won't teach you what you need to know to be able to race competitively against 360's and 410's. The point of the class was to allow guys who had a regular job and a family to go race sprint cars without breaking the bank and having a 2nd job of race car maintenance.

I know that the 305's have that V-8 that you crave, but they are really underpowered for a car running a 25 square foot wing and a giant RR tire. I would go the 600 route before going 305 racing. For one thing, you don't need a quad to push you around the pits, it takes up way less space in the garage, you can run gasoline through them to get the alcohol out of the fuel system, and the methanol and tire cost is miniscule compared to the big car.