Since you’re in CT, I recommend you check out youtube videos of sprinterdellacasa (pretty sure that’s how it’s spelled), he is a crit racer there in CT and one time race promoter, so you may be able to pick his brain in person. He’s famously low FTP but has a great sprint and smart racer who made it up to cat 2 (he’s downgraded himself to cat 3).
As for build, I think I’d agree to work on general and get better in a lot of scenarios, and then maybe a crit specialty if you’re really wanting to focus.