I think it’s safe to say that anyone who’s into things with engines and wheels (or a hull, why not) has entertained the idea of racing that thing, even if only as a fantasy. I’ve been a racer myself on two wheels but with no motor (BMX, the mediocre-ist 16 Expert in New England) and on four wheels but not actually inside the car (because they’re radio-controlled).
Should I ever have the time and money to go racing “for real” (or just enjoy track-running a vehicle), keeping things small seems like the most fun to me. Kart racing looks like a blast, and that’s a dream I’ve harbored since kid-me hot-lapped parking lots with five Briggs and Stratton horses behind my right elbow. I suppose I could dream bigger, but if it’s going to be a hobby and not my life, being a casual kart racer feels ideal.
The other dream is motocross, with an actual motor, not just my legs. Back in my early teen years when I could be found aboard a Honda XR100 nearly every day it was above 40 degrees and not raining, I thought I could be a pretty good motocrosser. I was fearless and jumped higher and farther than anyone else I knew with a dirt bike, so I figured I surely would have been a natural. But I was already stretched pretty thin scraping together entry fees for BMX races, so managing to somehow get a proper CR80 to go racing seemed impossible. And even if I could, I doubt Mom and Dad would have green-lit me upping the two-wheeled danger level I already had in my life. But as an out-of-shape 58-year-old, maybe now’s the time!
What motorsport or auto racing class looks the most fun to you?
Top graphic image: DepositPhotos.com
I think the most fun one is whatever you can get into easiest. I do autocross and it is some of the most fun you can have in a car. Its also about the cheapest form of motorsports you can get into since you can race just about anything that is wider than it is tall and has 4 wheels.
Figure 8 school bus racing
The one where you take old FWD beaters, remove the rear wheels, and then weld steel plates in their place. That looks fun as hell.
Motorsport? . Mini hydroplanes, formula 600, etc. But also gravity powered land speed racing. There’s a pretty good canyon near where my parents live with a really long, steep, straight run that I think could do a really good job of getting some crazy speeds.
I’ve always wanted to go British Trials racing!
It looks so silly fun and is the birthplace of Lotus.
Went to watch a 24 hours of Lemons race just for fun. Was it fun? It was Hella fun. Thirteen years later and thousands of miles later, it is still a blast. Think of it as going to an extended track day with a non-stop party simultaneously. Do it, just go!
Citroen C1 endurance racing, they even do 24 hour events
https://c1racing.club/
Holding down two ends of the spectrum, tractor pull and electric unicycle racing
But the best is F1 sidecar. Why isn’t there tv coverage of sidecar racing? It’s a natural!
Formula E, despite not being as glamorous as Formula 1, looks a lot more fun for the drivers.
And British Touring Car Championship, which uses derivatives of real cars which you can purchase in a showroom and includes right turns, seems a lot more fun than the likes of NASCAR.
Motocross at 58 is iffy at best. Get a bike and start trail riding! It’ll keep you in shape and isn’t nearly as dangerous. It’s my favorite way to explore large outdoors areas. There’s also plenty of competition to be had with enduros and hare scrambles.
Having tried karting, sprints, hill climbs, track days and motorcycle trials I’d have to say the most fun, by a huge margin, was drifting.
I don’t like watching it, but balancing a car sideways at 70mph always felt amazing. And nailing a transition or leaving just a little paint on a wall is just an incredible feeling.
I stopped competing 16 years ago, and still miss it every day. I don’t think there is a UK championship any more.
World Rally for me, hands down. I don’t know if I could even handle a ride-along but I’d force myself to love every second of it.
Fell in love with it during the early 2000s and still can’t fathom how they aren’t all dead after one special stage.
I’m not talking about Group-B stuff, either – the newest cars are plenty insane.
Belt sander drag strips!
Motorized unicycle racing.
Amazing isn’t it?
Given my budget, lawnmower racing.
Hard to argue with karting, but I think Legends cars look like a lot of fun too. Tight spec, small, high power-to-weight, and lousy aero, all makes for the same close racing without breaking the budget –but it also won’t break all your bones in a crash.
Legends can to mind as well.
40 years ago (wow, has it been THAT long?) I had a neighbor who had a 250 shifter cart. He let me drive it a couple of times and it was the most exhilarating thing I’ve operated on two or four wheels. He raced it. I went with him to Sears Point one weekend to watch. There’s no way I would be anywhere near being competitive, but it sure looked like fun. And relatively inexpensive on top of it. I’ll have to watch some YT videos of the Legends. Off road truck racing looks like fun. And in another, more skilled life, I think WRC would be fun. Oh, and early 2000s DTM racing. Those cars looked like a more sophisticated version of NASCAR, but always on road courses and not ovals.
On two wheels, stuff like the Isle of Man looks terrifying and on three wheels, Sidecar TT looks nearly as insane.
Why isn’t Emmanuelle Clément a household name? Any woman that wears a friction plate on her left hip because it’s dragging on the pavement at over 100mph should be a role model for us all.
Supercross. I’m much more into two-wheeled racing in general, but supercross has always pushed the right buttons for me, even more than motocross or road racing.
I will never actually do it because it’s like mountain biking except everything is bigger and faster and it hurts more when you fall, but if I were going to race it would be that.
Decades ago, I had a temp worker that had raced in supercross for about 10 years. He was a backmarker. He was young, maybe mid-30s. His body? Not so young. He had to weave his way down hills because both ACLs were loose. He wasn’t very flexible because had had multiple fusions in his back. Both of his shoulders had been replaced and were starting to get a bit worn out with usage and needed to be replaced again soon. He also had a full set of dentures.
That looks fun as hell, but screw up a landing, even a tiny bit and you are going to become the next Eval Kneival when it comes to damage to you. He was an excellent worker, but uninsurable, with all the health problems and was dissolving pee-cups with all the prescription meds he took.
Peter, if you are in SoCal and want to drive a shifter kart, I have one and can take it to the track for you. Same goes for any other Autopian writer.
I want to move up from track days to time trials. Once I get a little more seat time at more tracks under my belt I intend to do just that.
Karting – can’t get smaller on 4 wheels!
2CV cross, just because it is a thing. ( if you carefully engineer a BMW flat twin into your car you will be disqualified by angry French people and there mothers)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GItzTzGEng&t=26s
English hill climb trials. It would be fun just to be a “bouncer” in one of the old MGs chugging up the dirt trails.
Does skijöring count? Looks fun, but I don’t believe I would survive half a lap.
https://youtu.be/VmSakBwjwTU
That is bonkers! I don’t know who has it harder, the guy on the bike or the guy being towed. Thanks for the link. I didn’t know this was a thing until today.
I picked up Hare and Hounds and Hare Scramble dirt bike racing at 36 and it IS EPIC! Yea, do I wish I could afford a cage and the safety that comes with it? Sure. But you only live once.
But yea, offshore powerboat racing and a trophy truck team would be my play toys if I was more than rich enough.
Tong Throwing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnJJykTPoJY
L. A. 2028!