Some people really like fast cars and driving so they resort to playing video games and enjoying their hobby there. It is much safer and video games are pretty cheap to purchase, compared to a set of tires, brakes, all the regular maintenance and everything else a car needs to keep it in shape, let alone racing shape.
But, what if you really wanted to be a hobby racer? Can it be done? Yes, it can, but depending on how much money you have, it can be more or less entertaining.
Go Karting – A Simple and Cheap Way to Race
Karting has been the go to way to learn how to race on a budget. It resembles racing in almost every way except the speed and other dangerous details. Karting is also very widespread, even more so if you take into account all the other possible ways of enjoying motorsports as a hobby.
Find a local karting club and see what the prices are, then compare them to the price of owning a car and actually racing it, to see which one is cheaper. Hint, it will be karting.
Local Races – They Exist (to an extent)
Putting aside all Fast and Furious ideas, local races are a thing, on an amateur level, not professional races. There certainly are professional races in most countries, but not all motorsports are included and available.
Formula style races should be popular all over the world and NASCAR is also especially popular. On the other hand, rallying is a very popular motorsport, one which takes a lot of skill and is often more dangerous than other, asphalt high speed motorsports. If you have any of these available on a local level, then being a hobbyist racer should be much easier.
Racing on a Local Track – Whichever Type You Want
If you have your own car which you plan to take racing, then you could organize races on a local race track, provided that there is one available. This is the safest way of being a hobbyist racer, and it becomes that much more interesting if you have your own vehicle.
Provided that you have more people to organize races with, you could make a category where others would join. For example, 4 liter naturally aspirated petrol engines. That would be an interesting race to behold.
Motorsports are expensive and being a hobbyist racer is also an expensive hobby. Depending on your budget, you could be a karting hobbyist or even a NASCAR hobbyist racer, not to mention having your own car and organizing races on your own. It is doable, but be prepared to spend lots of money.
