Getting my first Road Bike
Let's take a quick look at some of your bigger goals: 


  
  One day possibly enter into a local race
  Try to hit and maintain a 20+(hitting close to 30 would be nice) mph base speed (currently can do about 15-17 on an exercise bike but not sure how that compares to actual riding).
  Morning rides of about 20-30 miles with weekend rides hoping to hit 100 miles.
  


All of these goals would suggest a bike with a lower riding position (i.e., what you termed "flat back") that is generally indicative of a sport road bike with drop bars, rather than a hybrid with flat bars. The lower riding position (more horizontal back) means you present less frontal area to the wind, the lower drag makes higher speeds easier to maintain.  Lowering your drag is necessary for racing or riding at high speeds (hitting and maintaining 30 mph on the flat without assistance is not trivial). I would term this a more aggressive road/sport geometry. 

While, a road/sport geometry may be needed for your ultimate goals, it also requires flexibility and core muscle strength to maintain such a position, especially if you wish avoid injury.  For many road cyclists this is a position that is honed over time after building up flexibility and strength. The body can accommodate all sorts of bad postures, but they can catch up with you.  Given that you are already dealing with injuries, I would be cautious on this front.

As an anecdote, after improving my flexibility in my 40's I ride a position that is 1 inch longer (i.e., handle bars are 1 inch farther away) than when I was in my 20's - the handle bar height has not changed. I had worse mid-back flexibility when I was younger, which lead me to unknowingly adopt a compensatory  posture which eventually lead to worse flexibility and  back pain. This did however eventually work out in my favour as it lead me to focus on flexibility and core strength and ultimately better posture on the bike (and life in general).

As such, I would suggest that start with a bike that gives you a more upright position, one that you hopefully you find more comfortable. Hybrids definitely feature this upright position, but some drop bar road bikes  (e.g., endurance, gravel, adventure - and other market speak) also have a more upright position despite having drop bars.  Race road bikes typically have a more aggressive position, and should be generally avoided until more experience has been gained.

The bike geometry that you may need for the long term goals (highlighted above) may not be the right bike geometry for you right now.  Be prepared to change over time, this may mean simply changing the bike setup (e.g., lowering the bars), re-configuring or even selling and buying again.

Good luck.