First time road racing at the track!
So as a life long drag racer showing my ignorance, what is difference between auto cross and road racing?
I'm sure you're not the only person here with that question!
Autocross = Timed runs through a course made up of traffic pylons. Every cone knocked out of its box is time penalty, usually 2 seconds.
Track event = Driving at speed on a road course. Share the course with other drivers of similar skill. Passing allowed by point by. Usually no timing.
Often goes by other names such as High Performance Driver Education or Experience, Track-night, Track day.
Road race = Driving against other drivers on a road course. Starting position is based on qualifying times (best timed run on the course). Winning is based on first car across the finish line after x number of laps (or hours for enduros).
Time Attacks & High Speed Autocross are usually a timed competition on a road course or portion of a road course. Rules vary with sanctioning group and classes. Anything approaching race car type situations almost always requires race car type safety equipment. Again, varies with sanctioning organization and track.
Hill climbs are amongst the oldest and best known type of competitive time trial, and they always require at least a 4 pt bar, race seat, harness, suit etc.