racing

[mtaylor510]

how to you get started in racing?

[mateo]

Originally Posted by mtaylor510

how to you get started in racing?

http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Conte...S/Default.aspx

[Rx8135i]

i raced on my roller blades one time

[atr_hugo]

What kind of racing do you want to do? If you want to autocross, get started with a local chapter of the SCCA or BMWCCA. If you want to road race (beyond occasional 'track days') start with the SCCA. If it's drag racing, well, the NHRA does have a pretty extensive amateur program.

If you want to just drive your street car at speed on a road course then you want to do the 'High Performance Driving Education', aka, track days. For that, get involved with your local chapter of BMWCCA.

Best bet - start with the BMWCCA - get involved in a local chapter and you can find all sorts of folks who have gone racing and can help you in your quest.

[mikeo]

Hugo is right, as usual. BMWCCA and SCCA are the best way to try sanctioned, safe, fun motorsports without investing a ton of money. Both the SCCA and BMWCCA are very active in the DFW area. Go out to some of their events and talk to them, I can tell you they will be very supportive and helpful to a novice.

[larryn]

Originally Posted by mtaylor510

how to you get started in racing?

Depends what you want to accomplish. I would start by joning the BMW CCA, and checking out what your local chapter has for events. The Lone Star Chapter does do a fairly robust autocross series, as well as Car Control clinics and DE's. Check out their calendar of events on that website. CCA events are usually very safe, adn they don;t put up with idiots making it dangerous for others.

SCCA is more hard-core, and although they have a decent instructor program, I would recommend a less competitive environment, like your local chapter, for both autocross and track events (DEs). SCCA is safe as well. (there are clubs I would never dream of running with...) I would also recommend doing an Advanced Driver Safety School (ADSS) that your local chapters offer as well, that give you basics on car control at the limit. I say "basics" almost tongue-in-cheek, because you'll be learning things that you've never done before in a car, no matter how long you've driven.

Find out what you'd like to do, try a few events, listen and learn as much as you can, and have fun. Once you get better, you can think about club racing, sponsors, dedicated track cars, etc...

[ersatzS2]

Originally Posted by mtaylor510

how to you get started in racing?

Highly variable question depending on your goals, budget, age, geographic location, mechanical capabilities and a few other variables I'm not thinking of. (eg marital status!)

Some options not mentioned:

Karting: best way to develop car-control, racecraft, learn the line, and accumulate cheap seat time. Not as inexpensive as people think, and highly dependent on having a local track.

Skip Barber: best way to get extreme high end coaching in real race cars, requiring no more preparation than owning a helmet and having a lot of disposable income.

Track Days: cheapest way to drive a car on a racetrack, variable coaching, sometimes very good, sometimes just plain wrong. For the price of membership in BMW, porsche or Audi clubs you could be on the track in a couple weekends. There are also for-profit track day outfits like PDA.