North East Rally Racing- Who's Involved? Where do I Get Started?
 

Hi Guys and Gals,
I have been around auto sports my entire life and have dabled in a fiew varieties myself. I have always had a natural attraction to rally racing in particular and would love to get my feet wet in this form of competition. I don't have a large expendible budget and am not trying to break into it in a professional manner. I'm looking at it as more of a weekend hobby sport that I can get out and enjoy with some of my family. I wrench on all of my own vehicles, be they street, race, or utility and always have enjoyed doing so. My brother (in his early 40's) has broched the subject of rallying with me a fiew times and, quite honestly, has gotten me to the point of doing my homework. ;) I, in turn, have his interest peaked with the idea of a Rx-7 rally car.

What I would like to know is:

Who here is involved?

Where should I go for info on rally organisations in my area?

Are there any events in the tri-state area that I can attend to get some first hand experience of the format and proceedings?

My brother (a computer programmer) has worked with some people in the past that have been involved in rallying (including a fiew crazy Russians from NJ). He had gotten a lot of friendly advice and help on the subject from them. But that is years ago and I'm sure things have changed since then.

Any info you can lend to get me going in the right direction would be great!

Thanks, Jesse

A good place to start would be the NASA website and the Rally America website.

http://www.nasaproracing.com/

http://www.rally-america.com/index.php

-billy

I'm going down a similar path. Right now I'm using my rx-7 for SCCA rallycross events. I will slowly build it to NASA specs and hopefully enter a stage rally in the next few years.

I was just at Rally New York a few months ago, its part of the USRC. You can check out their website for the next event. No better way to get involved than to spectate or marshal an event.
http://www.rallynewyork.com

That is some great info guys, thanks! I read through the reg. guide for NASA and registered as a marshal for Rally New York and Black River Stages.
However, everything involved with these organizations are nationally based or part of a national series. I don't have the time nor the funds to go traveling around the country at the moment. I was wondering if there were any locally based (to me, that is) grassroots groups and/or event series. I can cover the east coast from Maryland to Maine with relative ease, but getting outside of that area would be rather tough.

Local entrants are allowed to enter usrc and rally america events. You just won't be competing for national points.

SCCA Rallycross has divisions though. Then if you score high enough in your division you can move on to nationals. Not as fast or dangerous, but still plenty of fun.

Cool, I just came from the SCCA website (along with a fiew others). Found a good amount of info on events in the NE area. I've subscribed for "information & updates" from a number of races and organizations.