The very first thing you should be thinking about is safety. Even though this is considered a low speed event I’ve seen people get hurt. Each time it happens it is because someone wasn’t thinking safety. When I say safety most of us think about driving the car but what about when you are working the course? I watched two workers at a Florida event get run over by a Corvette because they were not keeping their eyes on the car at all times. Pay attention at all times and all places at the event. I had a friend roll his MGB at 70 mph because of an unsafe modification that the Tech missed. Even though Tech should have noticed it, the fault rode squarely on my buddies shoulders.
Your car should be in good working order. The first person to inspect your car should not be the Tech Inspector or the safety Steward, but you. After all, they won’t be driving the car, you will. An engine tune up and boosting your HP should not be the first thing you think of as a beginner because you aren’t going to be fast at first anyway. You do want to inspect the brakes, suspension, tires and look for fluid leaks. Once your car is safe for the track you can start thinking about driving. Getting your car “right” is a process that is best done one step at a time and an alignment is where you should always start. Most people seem to want to jump right in to a bunch of modifications all at once and drive. Wrong. There is a lot to learn about how your car handles and once you have the seat time and the knowledge to really understand what is happening you can begin to introduce changes one at a time and begin to assess the change.
