Hola, welcome to the mad obsession that is grassroots road racing. Heh. Ive been a lurker/poster here for about 4 years now and am just NOW beginning my racer project, which, if all goes well, I should finally be buying the donor car tomorrow. Granted, Im taking it from a bit of a different angle in that Im building my car. I know, it goes against all of the advice I have heard from others, but then, Im mentally unbalanced.... just ask anyone on here. 
Its a really good idea to head out to the track and talk to folks, so go for it. Ive done that a couple of times and have found it to be extremely helpful. Not only do you get lots of good info, but you get to start building relationships with your soon-to-be fellow racers. Here is a few things that Ive come across in my research over the past several years:
1. Its usually better to go with a car that has lots of people who run it and has aftermarket support. Helps you solve any problems that may come up and makes getting to the track easier. Granted, Im not following this advice either. Heh.
2. Im a big guy too, so take your size into consideration when getting the car. Im not so much talking about weight as I am about if you will actually fit in the thing with a helmet and roll cage. The car Im looking to buy is a little short on headroom from the factory, but that is more of a function of a thick headliner and seats that are mounted high in the cabin. Should be fine when I build it into a racer.
3. Ive decided that buying a car that has a proven record of reliablility is a good thing, especially when starting out. This has two major effects on your racing. The first is that you will spend less time fixing the car and more time driving it, and the second is that it will be cheaper to race it because you wont always be buying parts.
4. The less exotic, the better. Ties into #3 because the less exotic the car, when you DO break something, parts will be easier to find and they will be cheaper.
5. When you finally buy your racer, I would take it to a few track days and autocrosses even before you take to a regional. That way you get a good idea of what the car handles like and what its strengths and weaknesses are. The sooner you familiarize yourself with the car, the easier and safer it will be for you to drive.
As far as class goes, I decided on ITB as the best compromise between cost/performance/competition. The cars are not as high-tech as the A and S cars, and they dont eat up as many consumables because of their slower speed. Both of these factors make A and S cars more expensive to run. The B cars are not slow, so they are a good compromise between C and A in performance (in my region, the Bs can usually keep up with the Spec Miatas). While there may not be as many Bs in your region as As, there will be more Bs than Cs, so that will give you some good competition. Finally, since there are a lot of different cars that can be competitive in B, I think its the most diverse field you will find.
Im sure there are a few other things I could throw on here, but I dont want to be writing War and Peace. Hope some of this helps!
Jive
Ryan Walsh
Cal Club
Formerly building ITB Corolla
Now building ???
"I remember the immortal words of Socrates when he said, 'I drank what?'"
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