Hey! so, you asked me about my hobby, so you're gonna get a book :)

Feel free to email me via gmail, I'm Devon.

RallyCross - just show up with a stock car, preferably some simple FWD car. Learn how to remove the ABS fuse before you go, and bring a tire pressure gauge. A lot of newbies don't remove the ABS fuse and they have to unlearn how to drive with the computer doing weird things that slow them down (the computer is designed to save your life, not go fast. If it was programmed to go fast, it'd make you faster, but it's not). With RallyX, just show up. At least skim SCCA rallyx rules, checkout norcalrallycross.com[0] if you're in the SF bay area - there is an event coming up early June at prairie city. People win their class all the time with 90hp, so you don't need a powerful car[1].

At every event there are new people, who have no idea what they are doing, so stuff is already in place to make the first time fairly easy.

My first event I drove 7hrs in my clapped out VW golf daily driver and just showed up - I was 19. If I can do it, you can do it!

With RallyCross, you might break the car, but it's rare. You won't push the car hard enough as a new driver to break it, and you probably won't go over 40mph, but it's a lot of fun. You'll generally see one car break out of 60 at an event and it's almost always a modified car. The most common failure is tires de-beading, so AAA is helpful, but really people are around with compressed air etc so not a big deal. Modern stock cars are very tough, compared to stuff from the 80s-90s with weak engine mounts and control arms. You can also "borrow" a car with the "insurance" - I've done this lots of times and just pressure wash the car before I return it... usually cleaner than I picked it up.

Volunteering - this is complicated. But with stage rally they are always expecting new people, and there are always "intro" positions. If you can do basic math (this car arrived at this time and left the previous stage at this time) you can do timing, and you get to stand next to every car and see it launch/finish. If you're a HAM, you can do radio. Some volunteers do tech.

You basically fill out the form with your experience and the organizer puts you somewhere. You don't really wanna volunteer for RallyX as it would be very boring, Rally is different. If you want to start with RallyX, and you should, you just bring your car and show up.

My first volunteering experience was Mendocino Rally, which is sadly now defunct. I "only" did finish control timing, but the night before I got to sleep under the stars in Mendocino forest and sit around a fire and drink with a bunch of radio guys. Tons of fun. Or, it could be terrible and cold and miserable. That's rally.

In terms of Schools I've been to a few (O'Neil, CRS, Primitive, visited DirtFish) - I prefer Tim O'Neil in New Hampshire. I personally find them really friendly, and if you go in the winter, near Christmas, and buy your tickets on black Friday, you get like half off and get to slide around in the snow with AWD cars. CRS is great if you want to dip your toes.

Games - I personally love DR2. It's fun, and I find it feels closer to cars I've driven, although some people swear by Richard Burns Rally. I personally feel like RBR is like driving on ice even on the gravel stages, which I didn't find super accurate or fun. The main thing with games is you learn pace, and you learn to "look where you want to go", which is like the most important thing in rally because if you target fixate on a tree you will hit it... but this applies to all motorsport.

The game will also let you practice left-foot-braking, which is useful to help balance the car or at least bring weight back to the front to make a tight turn in Rallyx.

[0] there is also californiarallyseries.com

[1] I've taken everything from Honda Accords and Civics to trucks and minivans. I prefer 2WD because I like cars that feel nimble. My favorite stock cars to RallyCross include the Chevy Spark (very competitive if it's not too hot out for the CVT) and Hyundai Elantra.