Motorsports affect the human spirit, senses, and emotions in ways no other form of entertainment can. The overall synthesis of sight and sound, motion and emotion, action, and danger dazzles the senses. What are the best ways to get involved in motorsports?
Spectator
The most basic way to get involved is attending races. While some types of racing are world famous, there are so many ways people compete with vehicles that it’s mind-boggling. Spectating narrows the choices. There are people racing bar stools, lawn tractors, go karts, farm tractors, motorcycles, airplanes, boats and golf carts.
Some face the clock in timed events, while others compete to finish first or garner the most points. There are drag racing, motocross, off-road, road racing, hill climbs, time trials, endurance, stock cars, tractor pulls, mud bogs, rodeos, demolition derbies, and many more.
Volunteer
It’s also fairly easy to become directly involved with the events. Most clubs and sanctioning bodies can always use staff help with tables, gates, first aid, and set up or tearing down of the event. The next level is to work into helping track officials. These are the guys who set the cones and barriers, man the curves to warn of trouble ahead, and bring drivers and cars off the track after breakdowns and mishaps. Also, most organizations can use people to handle paperwork, timing, or inspection chores.
Volunteering could extend to helping the teams instead. Just about every race team needs volunteer help to unload tires, run water back and forth, move tools, hand out towels and the like. This could even work into some time on a pit crew or in the driver support area. There are times that anyone handy with a wrench can be beneficial during a tight race.
Racer
With as many different types of racing as there are, it’s possible to be out racing in a very short time. With automobile racing, amateur clubs like the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and National Auto Sports Association (NASA) offer every level of competition, from solo timed events around a course laid out in a parking area to full-on wheel-to-wheel professional competition on some of the world’s most famous tracks.