I'm not too sure of the electronics end of this, as I'm a mechanical guy, but if you end up hard wiring your speed control system, you're going to want to put something behind your main drive wheels. This could be almost like a wheelie bar on a drag racer, or something along those lines. This would help out with not flipping if you do happen to play with the power settings.

As far as getting something done at this time, I highly suggest you look around www.usfirst.org to find the FIRST team local to you. Knowing FIRST teams, they'd be the best outlet of help, and in the spirit of GP, would most likely be glad to help you out.