How do I get involved in racing? (for pleasure)

I lived a somewhat sheltered childhood. With the exception of football/baseball/basketball, I had the mom that would never let me do anything too dangerous growing up. The problem is that I've always loved the idea of being a race car driver.

Flash forward and I am 26 years old and would like to get involved in racing at an amateur level. I am currently working on starting my own business so I don't have any money for it right now, but would love to start doing some research into what kind of cars, equipment, and clubs are preferred. Is this a sport reserved for people with disposable incomes to do frequently as a hobby or are there cheap ways to still have a ball of fun. What are the best cars in the various categories? What will need to be modified? Costs? Just tell me as much as you guys can, please.

I'm actually probably more interested in track days versus competitive racing. I just have a huge desire to go out to a track and drive really fast and let off some steam there. I'm not a dare devil by nature but something about this appeals to me...

Is there a Track car 101 website that goes over what I need car wise or equipment wise?

Sorry for such a newb question but I am very ignorant in this area and would like to learn more. Thanks for your help/advice in advance.

Searched and didn't find anything this basic...but sorry if this has been asked 5,000,000 times.

 

Racing takes money, cheapest way to start would be karting.

 

find a track in your area and go there and walk around. within an hour someone will be trying to sell you his rig. karting is fun but your age might be a problem, too old to lose to 12 year olds and too young to run with the old, fat guys. mazdas are fun and cheap. miatas and rx7s running stock class is the way to go. there are lots of porsches out there that can be relatively inexpensive to campaign. just remember speed = $. so run stock. used parts are cheap and easy to find. when you decide to buy in take a course at a driving school. there are quite a few around. find one that is directed towards the class you're interested in running in. i don't think track days accomplish much other than burning up tires and gas and if you're not proficient, bodywork. class racing is the way to go. not a lot of dough but plenty of go.

 

Walk into a car repair workshop that looks like it might have something to do with motorsport ... or not and simple ask about the local "car club".

Then join it and meet like minded people face to face and go racing. The internet can only do so much ... real clubs and people are still really useful .
Pete

 

MY suggestion is to go for autocrossing while you're getting yourself established. It's a cheap, low key way to learn a lot. There are lots of helpful, friendly people (most regions of the SCCA will have a driving school at the start of the racing season, and this is to teach you how to drive fast, not just "here are the rules"). It's cheap to get into, run your current car with a set of extra wheels & tires. Once you've got a few bucks to throw around, if you get tired of the personal time:track time ratio in autox, you can take your stills you've developed on the autox track to the kart track or your local road racing track.

P.S.- as for a "Trackday 101", check the board in the Sponsors section of Fchat (bottom of the page) for Girodisc, they've got a guide to preparing for a track day. Lots of fun, but it's my experience that you'll do a lot more learning from others in autocrossing.

 

Well track days are cheap if you use your own car and it's a good way to get the feel of race tracks.

There are soo many clubs and cars that you can't just list all mods and "best cars" etc. Go to your nearest track and see what they offer each year.

If you end up getting serious and want to go faster or drive harder or just track a lot more often and don't want to run your daily driver into the ground, get a cheap sporty car later and use that. A lot of people will have a lot of cars that they swear by but you can choose from a list of many.

Most likely for track days you'll need an approved helmet and after a few entry fees, you're set. Most track days that I know of "local and non-national" will be run by hobby racers and enthusiasts, they will not be pros and should not be viewed as race car drivers. They will have experience and knowledge but are not driving coaches.

Also different cars drive differently, a road car will handle like one so if you start carting, you'll need a different skill set and most likely won't want to return to your road car for track use, unless it's a great sports car.

 

Go for it. You will probably love it. Think safety first. Start with racing school. Look around at the 'seat time per hour' prices, the reputation, and the cars they use. Find what you like to drive. Figure out what kind of money it takes to participate. Don't overlook motorcycles. Check Road & Track ads for drivers school, or inet. Ferrari is pretty expensive way to go unless you are satisfied with an older (and slower) car like a 3*8.

Price tiers for common sports car racing that I would recommend:
Cheapest- Spec Mazda or old Vette (C4 or C5), Lotus, 328
Mid Pack- Newer Z06 Vette or Viper, 355
Expensive- 360, GT3

Get a manual shifter, its just more fun and challenging. Just my 2c.

 

I would suggest taking a year to do a couple HPDEs in your area to make sure that you really want to do it. Start in a slow car. Once you learn how to drive it fast, you'll drive high-speed vehicles with much more competency.

One thing is, just be prepared to have some big bills... if you can't afford the worst-case scenario right now... it might not be the best time to give it a shot.

 

Budget will drive what you race.

Bang for the buck 125 shifter karting is great for an adult. Shifter karts are beyond what the kids will be driving.

ekartingnews.com has a great forum covering the various kinds of karts.

 

1. find a lot money.
2. well 2 doesn't really matter after you get past one you're all set

 

I have to agree on carting being low budget and one of the most dangerous (you want danger, right?) forms of racing. I tried it one time, got t-boned (hit) by some hothead in a hairpin corner who got 'revenge' after I made a clean pass on him in the previous corner, broke three ribs. The guy wasn't black flagged...in fact, this kind of hit was rampant and nobody was black flagged. Not my cup of tea. Totally different than auto racing in club events, where safety is first. Just my 2c. I am sure there are events and clubs that run a more professional show, just make sure you check it out first. Oh yea, and get a rib protector.


Geez, I sound like FA. LOL

 

Try to find someone racing the type of car you think you would like to race and see if you can help out. When my friend and I (F&MRacing) wanted to go racing we hung out with a group of guys running Formula Fords. It started with just asking questions then lead to getting involved helping out when they found out we were serious. This lead to going to races, and eventually buying our first car. We always stayed with open wheels cars vs. tin tops we felt they were more fun to drive, easier to work on and trailer around. Any type of car is fine you just have to figure out what you want and can afford. Running a Formula Ford isn't cheap or is any car. Currently thinking on getting another FF after selling the FF2000.

 

Karting is great, but even low budget karting takes a fair bit of investment. You can start racing tomorrow (OK, Sunday) in your street car at the next SCCA autocross, for almost nothing. Most clubs even have a spare helmet lying around for novices.

http://www.scca.org/Solo/Solo.asp?IdS=52AE84-1A1AF70&x=050|010&~=

As your location is rather indeterminate, find your regional chapter here and call to find the next event:

http://www.scca.org/Inside/Index.asp?IdS=52AE84-1A1AF70&Reference=RegionalSites&~=

 

I think you left out a key component of your question. What is your budget for this activity? It is impossible to really answer your question (in a reasonable amount of space) without some idea of your budget.