Just because you're not racing at a proper drag strip doesn't mean that what you are looking for, fundamentally, is a fast car. The free standing 1/4 mile is only one, but perhaps the best measure of a fast car. You can have a car that makes a lot of power not be very fast unless you give it the proper gearing, converter, suspension, etc... Making changes and looking at timeslips is the only way I know to dial in a car. Heck, I started all this stuff just like you, but the power is in a word... INTOXICATING!
Take it from a moron like me, do your test and tuning at the drag strip, it's safer, and cheaper in the long run. Plus its funner, your not sweating getting arrested when you heat the tires up!! Keep your racing off the streets, that's where my wife drives around with my two sons in the car.
There's LOTS of plenty slow Chevys and rice burners out there at the strip you can strut your stuff against... and beat. And if you have a time slip to prove it, who is going to be able to lie about being beaten?
Ron.