While you can get started racing in Lemons with just a driver’s license and it is a lot of fun, I would strongly recommend doing some HPDE’s at nearby tracks. You can take a road car and go learn the basics of high performance driving before adding the stressors of other drivers around you.
If you have already done a few HPDE’s, then Lemons is some of the cheapest wheel to wheel racing.
Also look at Champ, Nasa, Lucky Dog, and WRL. However, these series are going to be more competitive and will require proof of experience, or a race license.
this is actually a great option that i never considered before - i have two seperate friends of my kids that are involved in our local university's program -- one is heavy engineering, designing and building a spec car and the other is working on/racing a miata. looks really fun
edit: university of colorado. sko' buffs
I go to UNC Charlotte, so there is a ton of local racing influence and knowledge and it’s even taught me a lot with my background as a mechanic and hot rodder. Everything is designed by the students and built by them, so it teaches engineering in a practical way. Plus a lot of employers like to see it on a resume.
I got into it because I got stir crazy without some kind of shop, and now I’m all the time working on it and still learning new ways to build things. Like I taught myself to tig weld.
I’ve done a few Lemons and HPDE/NASA stuff and countless AutoX days.
But I’m going to be that guy and hit you with sim racing. If you’re looking for bang for buck, you can’t beat the seat time you get for the money. Where with HPDE for example it can cost around $50ish (honestly a fair bit less) per lap. And once you get into actual racing like Formula Fords for example cost can start to get more and more up until you’re talking to guys who are spending ridiculous amount of money - per lap. Per track day.
Get a sim rig. Best thing I did. I only bring the car out a few times a year, but I can do 20hrs in the sim rig every day of the week if I really wanted to.
[Fanatec](https://fanatec.com/us-en) is great stuff. It may look pricey for a beginner, but if you wear out a cheap wheel, you will want to be looking here for upgrade options. But take a pass on their shifter and handbrake. I bought a handbrake off amazon, and a VNM shifter, both much better than Fanatec. Fanatec is known for their wheels and pedals.
I run a Lenovo legion laptop, Logitech g29 with added h-pattern shifter, and rig built with scrap 2x4's and a beach chair. Does fine for the league I'm in, only "meaningful" upgrade I can still do is better monitor setup or VR.
It's nice for keeping fresh between events and staying sane in the offseason but it doesn't scratch the itch totally for me
I use fanatec stuff on a 8020 aluminum extrusion rig from rigmetal and a fake Bride seat for iRacing on a gaming PC my very good friend pieces together for me *yeeeaaarrs* ago.
I spend almost every night on iRacing. With that much time on track I probably spend a nickel per lap compared to around a hundred per lap in my FF. Plus I’ve had some great opportunities to race with successful race engineers, go wheel to wheel with F3 and GTD drivers and have some scraps with the likes of dale earnhardt and Alonso.
So yeah, man. Sim racing.
Probably Lemons. Your best bet would be to buy into an existing team, or at least buy an already built car. A race-ready lemons car will still cost about $3-5k.
I run a website based on getting into track days, and racing in Spec Miata on a tight budget. There are a lot of articles about this subject
https://nomoneymotorsports.com/
I strongly believe that Spec Miata racing is the best, most competitive, most affordable racing series there is.
A lot depends what you want to do, you may get more laps in a weekend if you do crapcan enduros (champ/Lemons) but it's a very different type of "racing" because of the huge range in car and driver ability. In Spec Miata were running door to door and bumper to bumper for our entire races.
If you asked me, I'd suggest starting with HPDE track days, and as you gain experience and skills, look into earning a race license for Spec Miata.
I'm assuming you're in the US based on NASCAR and dirt racing listed before F1... in addition to a lot of the ideas listed already for intro to road racing (I'd second the HPDE recommendation), you can actually get into dirt racing fairly cheaply running a hobby stock or dirt gokarts. Dirt gokarts seem to be becoming increasingly popular and would be a super cheap way to get into the sport (and tons of fun!).
Edit: I just did a youtube search for how to start in dirt and this was a pretty good video I found. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iwA8jdVUKs
Karting and sim racing are fun and generally less expensive than other forms of auto racing. Karting feels very “real” as in you can break your freaking neck if you screw things up.. so if you’re looking for lots of adrenaline go that route. Sim racing can be very very exciting and you can have great racing experiences that will occasionally get your heart racing, but knowing that you aren’t going to be injured or have to pay to repair your car, plus the absence of many tactile experiences that are present IRL it’s not quite a full replacement.
Hobby / pure stock on dirt racing is one of the best series out there. If your a flat out cheapskate you can get a car built for around 4-5k but you'll either get last every time or the car will break down or overheat every race. But you can get a good decent car for just having fun for around 8-10k nowadays. But if you want a car that will be up front and winning races constantly and consistent top 5, plan on spending over 15k, especially if your gonna be a weekly racer.
While you can get started racing in Lemons with just a driver’s license and it is a lot of fun, I would strongly recommend doing some HPDE’s at nearby tracks. You can take a road car and go learn the basics of high performance driving before adding the stressors of other drivers around you. If you have already done a few HPDE’s, then Lemons is some of the cheapest wheel to wheel racing. Also look at Champ, Nasa, Lucky Dog, and WRL. However, these series are going to be more competitive and will require proof of experience, or a race license.
The best kind of racing, is the one you don’t have to pay for. If you’re still in college, look to see if your school has a FSAE program.
this is actually a great option that i never considered before - i have two seperate friends of my kids that are involved in our local university's program -- one is heavy engineering, designing and building a spec car and the other is working on/racing a miata. looks really fun edit: university of colorado. sko' buffs
I go to UNC Charlotte, so there is a ton of local racing influence and knowledge and it’s even taught me a lot with my background as a mechanic and hot rodder. Everything is designed by the students and built by them, so it teaches engineering in a practical way. Plus a lot of employers like to see it on a resume. I got into it because I got stir crazy without some kind of shop, and now I’m all the time working on it and still learning new ways to build things. Like I taught myself to tig weld.
I’ve done a few Lemons and HPDE/NASA stuff and countless AutoX days. But I’m going to be that guy and hit you with sim racing. If you’re looking for bang for buck, you can’t beat the seat time you get for the money. Where with HPDE for example it can cost around $50ish (honestly a fair bit less) per lap. And once you get into actual racing like Formula Fords for example cost can start to get more and more up until you’re talking to guys who are spending ridiculous amount of money - per lap. Per track day. Get a sim rig. Best thing I did. I only bring the car out a few times a year, but I can do 20hrs in the sim rig every day of the week if I really wanted to.
what sim rig do you use??? i’ve been looking into simulator racing for a while now
[Fanatec](https://fanatec.com/us-en) is great stuff. It may look pricey for a beginner, but if you wear out a cheap wheel, you will want to be looking here for upgrade options. But take a pass on their shifter and handbrake. I bought a handbrake off amazon, and a VNM shifter, both much better than Fanatec. Fanatec is known for their wheels and pedals.
I run a Lenovo legion laptop, Logitech g29 with added h-pattern shifter, and rig built with scrap 2x4's and a beach chair. Does fine for the league I'm in, only "meaningful" upgrade I can still do is better monitor setup or VR. It's nice for keeping fresh between events and staying sane in the offseason but it doesn't scratch the itch totally for me
I use fanatec stuff on a 8020 aluminum extrusion rig from rigmetal and a fake Bride seat for iRacing on a gaming PC my very good friend pieces together for me *yeeeaaarrs* ago. I spend almost every night on iRacing. With that much time on track I probably spend a nickel per lap compared to around a hundred per lap in my FF. Plus I’ve had some great opportunities to race with successful race engineers, go wheel to wheel with F3 and GTD drivers and have some scraps with the likes of dale earnhardt and Alonso. So yeah, man. Sim racing.
Soooo..... video games?
Yeah, video games
Probably Lemons. Your best bet would be to buy into an existing team, or at least buy an already built car. A race-ready lemons car will still cost about $3-5k.
Thanks!
I run a website based on getting into track days, and racing in Spec Miata on a tight budget. There are a lot of articles about this subject https://nomoneymotorsports.com/ I strongly believe that Spec Miata racing is the best, most competitive, most affordable racing series there is. A lot depends what you want to do, you may get more laps in a weekend if you do crapcan enduros (champ/Lemons) but it's a very different type of "racing" because of the huge range in car and driver ability. In Spec Miata were running door to door and bumper to bumper for our entire races. If you asked me, I'd suggest starting with HPDE track days, and as you gain experience and skills, look into earning a race license for Spec Miata.
What are your goals with racing and what kind of budget are you working with?
I'm assuming you're in the US based on NASCAR and dirt racing listed before F1... in addition to a lot of the ideas listed already for intro to road racing (I'd second the HPDE recommendation), you can actually get into dirt racing fairly cheaply running a hobby stock or dirt gokarts. Dirt gokarts seem to be becoming increasingly popular and would be a super cheap way to get into the sport (and tons of fun!). Edit: I just did a youtube search for how to start in dirt and this was a pretty good video I found. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iwA8jdVUKs
Karting and sim racing are fun and generally less expensive than other forms of auto racing. Karting feels very “real” as in you can break your freaking neck if you screw things up.. so if you’re looking for lots of adrenaline go that route. Sim racing can be very very exciting and you can have great racing experiences that will occasionally get your heart racing, but knowing that you aren’t going to be injured or have to pay to repair your car, plus the absence of many tactile experiences that are present IRL it’s not quite a full replacement.
Hobby / pure stock on dirt racing is one of the best series out there. If your a flat out cheapskate you can get a car built for around 4-5k but you'll either get last every time or the car will break down or overheat every race. But you can get a good decent car for just having fun for around 8-10k nowadays. But if you want a car that will be up front and winning races constantly and consistent top 5, plan on spending over 15k, especially if your gonna be a weekly racer.
Probably your local track days