How best to start and beat the game...

At the very start, buy yourself a cheap car (the early races aren't hard), and then, when the Toyota Supra appears, buy it, sell your first car, and tune the new car's engine without sparing any money (this car is the most optimal option of those offered, and by the time cars better than the Toyota appear, you'll have already earned enough money to buy them).
After defeating the Blacklist heroes, you'll be offered to choose two markers: choose the marker with the "?" sign (if you're lucky, you'll take the opponent's car) and the marker that freely improves engine characteristics (these parts are unique and can't be bought anywhere, and the upgrades are significant. To use it, (!!!!) don't forget to go into the back room in the shop).
Don't ignore the blue hiding spots while breaking away from a cop pursuit. Especially when they're highly aggressive, there are often dirty tricks: you've got 2 seconds left to wait and suddenly out of nowhere a helicopter or a police car appears. Set the GPS to the hiding spot and follow the pointer, and if the cops are nearby, the radar at the top will warn you in advance (if it blinks green – the cops are nearby, if yellow – speed radar, the blinking frequency determines the distance to the object) and you'll be able to change your direction in time.
In races where the chance of cops is highest, I advise letting one opponent go ahead and driving behind him. The cops will notice him first and will chase only him, paying no attention to you, and now we boldly overtake him and win the race. Then we go into the garage and save. This bug is fun to watch: there was a case when, standing at the finish line already in free roam, cops rushed past me chasing the poor opponent. Otherwise, if the cops chase you during the race, you'll have to run from them after it too.
If you can't beat the drag race against a Blacklist hero (no money for tuning, constant crashes prevent you from continuing the race), don't rush, carefully drive behind him: sooner or later he'll definitely crash, and then calmly and unhurriedly drive to the ill-fated finish.