I only joined Steemit in March and am already ranked (52), so you could say I'm one of these guys who is racing to the top I suppose.
I didn't see Steemit last year when you joined but as you say things have changed. This saying, I don't consider myself to write crap content and I don't buy votes in the region of $100 or so, maybe 3SBD's per post is my max.
What to do about these big voters, I really don't know. Maybe the upcoming fork will make a difference. I use Steemit for the quality content, and value the things you mention too.
Small upvotes are fine as post promotions or advertisements, that doesnt bother me at all. Its the huge upvotes ($50+) that really disrupt things here.
Also you can get to 50 rather quick if you post and comment regularly, it gets much harder to move up after 55.
Im happy you are putting out good content, thats the most important part :)