If your only running your oil for 500 miles almost any brand name should be ok. The filter is not where you want to cheep out! The filter is going to catch all the metal shavings and bearing material that is going to be in the Engine after a rebuild, and most wear occurring in the first couple hundred miles.
I've had good luck with Mobil 5000 and recently Mobil 1 oils. I always run AC Delco filters.
I usually go about 5K on an oil change, oil is much better than it used to be, so I feel 3K is too soon, especially with synthetic. If in doubt you could have a oil analysis done. But if you feel better about 3K oil changes it's cheep maintenance.
On the race toy we use Kendall racing oil and Wix racing filters, and both get changed after 8-10 nights of racing