What does it take to become a driver?

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This has been a dream of mine to become a race car drive since i was a kid. Honestly i dont really care what race class i am in or what type of racing, well actually boating, monster truck, nascar, dragging, and trailer pullling forgot the real name of it, I DO NOT want to do that type of racing. But i just want to race, is this dream of mine out of the question if i have never raced before, only on video games. I know for sure f1 is out of the question and i know money might be a problem. All replies of greatly appreciated.
 
1st of all ,decide what kind of racing for sure you are interested in.
Then start going to the tracks,hang out,learn as many things as possible about that form of racing,make some aquaintences.
Once you are able to get a car of your own , take your findings and apply them,the aquaintences you made will probably be able to help you to a degree as far as parts , tuning , driving skills.

Got to have a descent job though , RACING IS AN EXPENSIVE HABIT . Start out possibly by getting sponsorships from your local parts stores or other businesses in your area,remember,every little bit helps. Feel confident and pursue your dreams. GOOD LUCK
 
Find a local autocross event, or drive to one. Start reading up on the SCCA website about rules and the lower classes they have. You could look into a spec racer (all the same cars, no variations allowed.) Racing is expensive. You wont win anything unless your pushing the limits of the car, and if youre pushing the limits youll probly start breaking stuff. Start off in autocross though, its basically a bunch of cones in a parking lot and it will show you if you can be competitive. No one will give you a sponsorship unless you can prove that you are decent.

If none of that works, stick to the clubman cup!
 
Inex legends cars are great, they were designed to be a cheap form of racing (not a cheap bashfest demo derby) but a real racer/ rookie racer can join, the way they keep it reasonably cheap is the extremely strict rule book (not on how you drive but on what you can do to the car), so it relies more on the driver than how deep your pockets are. You can pick up a good used car for around $9-12,000 with an engine, rebuild your engine about every 2 seasons and replace your tires every couple months depending on how often you race. There are road races, oval tracks and dirt ovals all over america and i believe in europe too. You can join (a sanctioned event) when you're 14 years old and there are people still racing well in to their 50's some in their 60's

For picture see my avatar, they are 5/8ths scale '34-40 fords, chevys, and dodges in coupe and sedan bodies with steel frames and fiberglass bodies

Edit: just realized this thread's from '09
 
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Have a look through GTP's karting thread:

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=126005

Karting is an excellent way to start getting involved in the world of motorsport. Although it can get quite expensive (buying a kart, race gear, annual licence renewal, club membership, tyres, engine maintenance, transponder, damage repairs, etc, etc) it's still one of the most affordable forms of motorsport. I've been doing it for a couple of years now, and I'm really enjoying it. Still in the middle of the steep learning curve, mainly trying to get to grips with kart setup and driving style.

I guess the ideal way (if you can afford it) is to start karting, practice at as many possible track and weather combinations as possible, enter as many competitions as possible and deliver good results. By the time skilled drivers are spending all sorts of money to travel between interstate competitions (probably more of a problem for people living in the US or AUS), they may as well consider moving up to the next form of racing. Maybe Formula Ford, or even Formula Vee.


Edit: just realized this thread's from '09
Edit: Oww, dang. I wish I read this before I went through the effort of writing this post.
 
You have 2 real choices, firstly its unlikely you will spotted and get a proper team driver since they only look at kids.

1st choice, buy a cheap mx5 or something and race in a regional championship, I don't know much about this option, it can be quite cheap however has the potential to be very costly, think cost of atleast $10,000 a year. This option lets you race at larger curcuits.

2nd choice, this is what I'm alot more knowledgeable about. Karting. You can either do sprint races driving single speed karts at smaller tracks, this is what I do, and is lots of fun, really close racing. Costs are about $5,000 a year to be competitive. Or you could do gearbox racing, this allows you to race at both short and long (well known) curcuits, these are seriously quick, and can be quite cheap if you have some mechanical knowledge at about the same cost as sprint curcuits.

My advice would be to go down the karting option, if you want to speak to me more about it, PM me or look over the karting thread on here (its on page 1, 2 or 3 of the motorsports section. If you have any questions then don't be affraid to ask.
 
Start reading up on the SCCA website about rules and the lower classes they have.

When I was at Mid-Ohio last weekend I watched an SCCA race with a class called "Formula Enterprise" which seemed kinda neat. They might also have been the ones behind the Miata races going on that day, but I can't swear to that since I don't really know much of anything about the SCCA aside from a moment's reading into Formula Enterprise.

This isn't a great picture, but it's what a Formula Enterprise car is:
formula9-2002.jpg
 
SCCA is awesome, I used to know the guy who ran some events till his shop closed down because he was stealing carbon Fiber hood molds then reselling them as his own creations....But cool dude none the less.
 
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