I also found lagging behind until all the bullets are spent to be a useful strategy. After that, depending on how well equipped I was, I’d either try to accelerate past the group (the speed boost comes in handy here, as do the mines) and win, or just clean them up.
My favourite move was to turbo into the back or side of a car, sandwiching it between my spikes and a wall. Muahaha… Also I quite enjoyed turboing in front of a car and laying a mine right on their nose. Good times ^^
The prize money from destroying other vehicles is pretty good ($4000 towards the end), but you can get even better money for winning without damage ($6000). Once I realised this I started relying more on the turbo (and mines).
@DavidN wow, I had no idea you could still compete in the harder races with the first few cars. That could have been super useful.
