10 Types of Motorsport That You Can Compete In

If you're at all interested in cars, you've daydreamed about going racing. The problem is that you aren't nearly as talented as Sebastian Vettel or Sebastien Loeb or other attractive foreigners named "Sebastien." You also don't have hundreds of thousands of dollars to piss away in assorted feeder series while hoping that you'll get noticed by a big team like Red Bull Racing or Citroen WRC.

Luckily, you can still go racing, win trophies, kick ass, take names, and tell girls at bars that you're a race car driver; you just won't be on TV. Here are 10 Types of Auto Racing That You Can Compete In.

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Cost: You'll need a helmet and a $20-$50 entry fee, plus SCCA membership dues ($65-90 depending on the region) if the event is sanctioned by that body.

Race Format: You're trying to set the best time in your class on a course made up of nothing but cones.

Risk of Bodily Harm: Virtually none. You're honesly more likely to be injured driving within the speed limit on a public road.

SCCA

Cost: You'll need a helmet and a $20-$50 entry fee, plus SCCA membership dues ($65-90 depending on the region) if the event is sanctioned by that body. Don't forget to factor in the wear and tear of having the underside of your car assaulted by gravel too.

Race Format: It's autocross on dirt; nothing but cones and an open field. Whoever sets the astest times wins.

Risk of Bodily Harm: Like autocross, it's very difficult to get hurt rallycrossing. If you've always wanted to rally race but really don't feel like dying by driving off a cliff and impaling one's self on a tree, this is perfect.

SCCA Rallycross

Cost: Varies wildly by location.

Race Format: Think of a NASCAR or IndyCar race, but not for nearly as long, and in a bunch of old beaters. Chances of finding an oval near you are pretty high, especially if you live in the South or the Midwest. Dirt ovals are about as common as paved ones.

Risk of Bodily Harm: Moderate, you can get a pretty nasty crash on an oval, but the cars simply aren't going fast enough to cause the kind of havok you think of when you think of NASCAR.

Oval Track Directory

Cost: Entry fee (usually under $100), a helmet (expired is usually OK), and a car that is hopefully worth more as scrap metal than as a car. Oh, and whatever chiropractor's bills you might incur.

Format: You take a car, preferably something with a steel frame, and crash it into other cars while those other cars try to crash into you and drunk people cheer. That's about all there is to it.

Risk of Bodily Harm: Rather high. You're supposed to avoid hitting peoples' driver's side doors, but accidents do happen. Your neck will be sore, and you might very well break a few bones.

Cost: More than you'd expect. The cars might be worth no more than $500, but you'll still need a helmet, fire-retardant suit, roll cage, racing seat, trailer, and entry fee. Expect to plunk down a few grand with a few of your friends if you want to see this happen, unless you already have that kind of gear, of course.

Race Format: These are seven to 24 hour endurance races, but instead of having a $2 million prototype and a massive pit crew, you've got at least three good friends, some mechanical know-how, and a hooptie.

Risk of Bodily Harm: This is wheel to wheel racing, and you might very well end up in a vehicle on vehicle crash. That said, it almost certainly won't be a high speed crash.

25 Hours of LeMons
Chumpcar

Cost: $15-$25 and a helmet, but only if your car is actually fast (under 14 second 1/4 mile).

Race Format: At the beginning of the day, all the cars get dialed in and a handicap is applied. This means that if your opponent's 2013 Shelby GT500 is faster than your 1971 Land-Yacht with three cylinders that don't fire, his car has to wait for a long time after yours starts. The idea is that the winner is decided not by car and income, but by reaction times.

Risk of Bodily Harm: That depends on the speed of your car. You can only do so much damage at 25mph.

NHRA

Cost: You'll need a helmet, an $65-$90 SCCA membership, and the entry fee (usually under $100) for the event you want to compete in.

Race Format: It's like a drag race, but with corners. You start side-by-side with your competitor and the light tree counts down just like a drag race, but from there on out you're on an autocross course that mirrors your opponent's. First guy across the finish line wins.

Risk of Bodily Harm: Quite low. While there is some chance of hitting the other car, if you lose control you're most likely just going to end a cone's life.

SCCA ProSolo

Cost: Varies wildly by location.

Race Format: You get a few laps, wheel to wheel, in the kind of vehicle that seven time F1 champ Michael Schumacher says is the most like an F1 car... and you don't even need a driver's license.

Risk of Bodily Harm: Big bruises and the occasional broken bone are not unheard of.

KartFinder

Cost: High... very high. You'll need a car prepped specifically for rallying, a co-driver, a few buddies to help out as a crew, a license, a helmet, a fire retardant suit, racing shoes: the works.

Race Format: This is the real deal; the beginners do the exact same thing as the pros. You race the same rally stage as the pros, and you're trying to set the quickest time just like the pros.

Risk of Bodily Harm: High... very high. You're hurtling along at high speed with little traction and with lots of trees/ditches/cliffs/boulders to crash into/off of. Make sure you've invested in a very good roll-cage.

Rally America

Cost: You need a helmet, $300-400 for entry, and potentially membership to a sanctioning body.

Race Format: Want to compete on an actual race track but aren't willing to risk getting into some massive multi-car crash? Time Attack/Time Trials are for you. Everybody gets a run on the track, and the winner is the one who sets the fastest lap time.

Risk of Bodily Harm: Moderate, there are no other cars to crash into, but you can still mess yourself up on a retaining wall. You should really know what you're doing before you go try to race on a track.

Global Time Attack
SCCA Time Trials