If there isn't a suitable club near you, maybe you could start one?
I'm chairman of our local RC car club (
http://www.wcrccc.co.uk/), and a founder member of a slot car racing club (WCSCC).
Organising an RC club or slot car club isn't that difficult, once you've got half a dozen like-minded people on board to get the ball rolling. During the spring/summer, the RC club race 1/10th offroad, renting space from a cricket club - £50 a year. Autumn/winter, we race TC, Mardave and buggies in a school hall - £42 a night. Entry fees more than cover running costs, so we have money for capital equipment like computers, lawnmower, generators, etc.
The biggest cost is buying the timing equipment, but there are some secondhand bargains to be found on eBay.
It's a shame that electric offroad has declined in popularity in recent years. It's an awful lot cheaper to build and maintain an offroad track than a tarmac TC track. For offroad, you just lay some ropes on the grass and add a few jumps. For TC, you need to build a road!
As for batteries, LiPos have made things a lot simpler and cheaper. Many of our members just buy 2 decent packs and charge them at home. £30 charger and £100 for 2 packs - good to go for several seasons.