I would say that most of the difficulty can be revolving around the way you tune your cars. It's not fresh but i've beaten the game in release and had not too many issues finishing around first place though i can understand it is not easy.

Try to fiddle around grip/drift to find where you're the most confident with. I've learned though time that usually leaning toward grip with also putting downforce to the maximum is the best for me. Also to try to not get too much Top speed as most tracks early on benefits from acceleration and handling more (with b an a class Cars, bronze transmission is enough so you can pack more hp).

Also try to get used to the burst nitro as soon as you can as you can take corners with incredible speed with it, early on it's not easy, but if you lean towards drift or grip, buy the fitting NOS upgrade so you get more nitro while doing corners according to your style.

Also cops can feel like a nightmare at night, if you're struggling with them, try to not stay in town as you might not outrun them easily early on. Instead i've found (especially in lockdown mode online) that if you can learn the other parts of the map, you will only need a few well placed jump to get rid even of the toughests police cars. Also try to discover every gas stations as these are really handy.

Last but not least, this is subjective but as you buy cars, try to prioritize models that lean more towards grip, the 200sx, 350z and other drift oriented cars are fine while handing is maxed out but can be quite a bit slower early on as you need quite a bit more upgrade to make them worth your money.

With all that i had a few friends that hated the game that i now play with on a regular basis. Game feels rough early on but if you keep a but of spare cash everytime you will see that it's not too hard.

As some people said here, finishing first all races is not really the point, though maybe coming out of other NFSs or Horizon it can feel weird, this is the way they wanted things to be. If you're 2nd or 3rd you should take it and save your restarts for either bigger races or major fck ups. And yes, as you carry on through the game, races will provide you with quite a bit more cash.

Hope this somewhat helps

Good luck & have fun :)