First, you need to look around and see what events are likely to be available for you to fly. Once you settle on event(s), you need to get together a team, at least pilot and pitperson. Practice leads to trophies. You need an adequate engine, which the team knows how to make, as we say, "Sit up and whistle Dixie!". That comes with practice You need a stable sturdy airplane which flies well. Part of the practice is the pilot getting the airplane to the pitperson ASAP. Another part is the pitperson catching the airplane without breaking it, refueling it efficiently, restarting the engine with one flip and releasing the airplane safely.
When you get a chance to watch races, you will soon be able to tell which teams are experienced and which are not. You will usually see an experienced team win.
I hope you are successful, running clean races and getting a place or win is really good fun.