by "all that garbage" do you mean needing a safe car and a helmet?? thats not much to ask and just about every automotive sport requires at least those two items. I mean, you can come with an unsafe or unreliable car but you won't have any fun sitting on the bench when your junk brakes down on you. Trust me, once you do it a couple times it will become very obvious why there are safety rules.
As far as cost goes you can plan on spending at least a couple hundred for the day when you factor in food, gas and entry fee. If you look around you can get 2 day packages for high 200 low 300's. Better make sure your car is in good working condition though, you don't want to pay all that money to get out there only to realize your brake pads suck and your trans won't shift, lol.
For a lot less money, and seat time, you can autox. Its challanging but IMO not as fun as road racing but it fills the void nicely between events. Not to mention it costs only around $30 for the day and doesn't put a fraction of the amount of abuse on your car as a road course does.
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