Auto Racing: How to Get Started in Professional Racing, sports car club, sports car club of america

Question
Hi, my name is Valerie, I'm 19 years old. At a young age my dad got me interested in cars, taking me to local tracks, the drags, buying a go-kart, test driving exotic cars ect. I hadn't considered pursuing my dream of professional racing until my dad bought me a new car for my birthday. He got me a manual RX-8, and after driving that around for the past couple weeks ive decided that I really want to pursue professional racing. The only problem is that I have NO idea how to do that. I've tried to research it online, but it either leads to a negative response from someone saying im too old to get involved, or a 3hr class where I can joy-ride in a Mercedes. I would really appreciate some information on how to get started, and some insightful information on the sport as well. The only types of cars im really familiar about are stock cars, formula/formula1/indy and kart racing. Information on the other types of cars and races, so I could see what interests me the most would be greatly appreciated as well. Thank you so much.

Answer
Hi Valerie:

I think I have an answer for  you .  Join the Sports Car Club of America.  Make sure your Dad does too.  To start, go to:  www.scca.org and search for a region close to you. Within that region there will be a districts even closer that hold monthly meetings. There will also be local contact phone numbers of people who are involved. SCCA is primarily a club of racers. and we race nearly anything you can call a car.  

To begin, you may want to attend a few races to get a feel for how SCCA works.  Most people then become workers, corner flagging is popular but there are numerous volunteer positions which will get you close to the track nearly every weekend.  After you've been around it for a time , you may want to attend a driving school.  You can buy a used race car for anything from $2000.00 for not much car, to prices almost no one can afford. It's best to start in a small sedan of some sort and spend a year or so in it. Then you will know a lot more about what you really want to do and how to go about it. You will also know a lot more about racing.

That's my answer Valerie, I started i n SCCA when I was about your age- - - -that would be nearly 50 years ago. They will be able to answer the many other questions you will have later on.

Feel free to write back if you need further help !

Dan Liddy
Sarasota, Florida