Regarding the negative (historical) trust, unfortunately for us, there is no formal way on bitcointalk to open a dispute or request re-evaluation. One person who have rated us negatively passed away (RIP) and the rest are either inactive or do not reply. So, looks like we will have to keep moving with it and just keep up with hard and decent work.
And regarding small races - yes, the prize pool is small atm, but we will change it soon, and for those who want easy (although smallish) win now - welcome. But be sure we will make our $500+ Races regular.