If you want to go racing but have no idea where to start, this guide was made for you.
From the outside, racing is confusing: too many acronyms, organizations, costs, opinions, and no obvious first step.
I wasted a decade of my life giving in to myths about racing, and then once I decided to go racing, I had no clue how to begin. What followed were several months of researching and piecing things together, which felt like a PhD thesis. This seemed wrong to me.
This guide gives you a practical roadmap into amateur road racing based on your budget, experience, and resources today. You’ll learn how grassroots racing actually works, and what you can do right now, even without a race car.
I wrote this for the person I was five years ago: dreaming about racing, but overwhelmed and completely unsure where to begin.
My goal is simple: help you get off the couch, and onto the track!
The Complete Guide to Going Racing
This guide is for you if you want to race cars, but you’re not sure where to begin.
Maybe you’ve watched racing for years. Maybe you already do karting, sim racing, autocross, track days, or HPDE and wonder what comes next. Maybe you’ve assumed racing is only for rich people, lifelong mechanics, or people who grew up around the sport.
This is not a driving manual, setup guide, or shortcut to becoming a pro. It’s a practical roadmap for normal people who want to understand what amateur road racing in the U.S. actually looks like and what steps are worth taking first.