this is probably a dumb question but the more i read and research im curious to find out how a 17 year old like myself could afford high performance mods without saving for years and years at a time  

Well getting a job and working as many hours as possible is pretty much the legit way to do it. Also plan out what you want to do, (dont go and buy a new set of headers when you plan on turboing it).  As far as green goes, altho not reccomended if you want alotta cash quick, sell rock lol.  Or if your good with numbers and sports, you can do what i did.  Be a bookie in HS.  Beware tho, i did 3 mo when i got caught.  Go with the legit way.  

Your in the same boat as me, and really theres no good way to go about it. My current plan is to take my car off the road for a few months in the winter and save some bread.

Then I'll hit university and not be able to mod it at all, and will probably have to park it in favor of something cheaper to insure.

After that though, find a job, rent a place with a buddy (to split costs) and have some fun for a few years before a wife and kid suck out your will to live.  

i mean i understand that sponsorships can help a whole lot and i think thats the way i'm going to have to go about it.  

Sponsorships from what? If I might ask...  

Um from being the kid with the rad ride  

uh?... wtf?  

Face it, unless you're rich or have rich parents, you're going to have to save money for parts. As for sponsorships, they're really not that great. They practically own your car once they sponsor you, depending on the sponsor I guess.  

work hard and save money and invest well in the parts you buy decide how much hp you want what you want the car to do and how well you can handle the car if you are really new at this i suggest starting out with a honda or a nissan 240sx and it helps if you have friends that know what there doing and are willing to give you a free hand etc.