Hey guys,
I wanted to know how do i get into auto cross, moto cross, i'm not too sure of the difference. I am in New York City so i am willing to travel a little bit for events. I also read something about rally events that are on public streets and you get penalized for any time over or under for each check point. Anyone know what this is called and how to get involved?
Thanks
matt

 

Welcome...

Start out with autocross to learn how the car handles, there's lots of info on that and how to set your car up to be safe at speed in the event of mishap. And what groups to run with and where you'll end up class wise.

Here's a link to open road racing that sounds like the other thing you're looking for, I've found a few different organizations that run these and seen MINIs in some of the rankings http://www.openroadracing.com/

 

For Auto-X try them: http://www.nyr-scca.com/
They also have a link to all other Auto-X sanctioning bodies. SCCA also has rally and hillclimbs (time trials) but they require full cage and harness on you car.

For the most cost effective taste of the track and without having to install full cage and harness until race time, try: http://www.nasanortheast.com/schedule.html and enroll in a HPDE.
Also, Phil Wicks is is great to wet your track feat in: http://www.minidriving.com/

 

That last one mentioned is called a road rally and it's by no means a race. It's more of a fun thing to do in a car but you never do anything illegal like speeding, etc, on public roads. Not my cup of tea but you should google your local areas for it if your interested in this type of event since its open to all people. Auto-x and track has been covered by the other guys. Motocross, at least from what I understand in my neck of the woods, is not a car race but a motorcycle type of dirt track event. SOmeone correct me here if this term has dual usage that includes autos, too.
Anyways, another event you might come across that's newbie friendly is the rallycross. It's basically the same as an autocross but done on dirt. It has less class restrictions than auto cross which are basically 2wd stock/modified/rally and 4wd stock/modified/rally.

 

Yeah the road rally sounds like what i read. It was something for fun that i can get my friend to join me as the navigator. Thank you