bahearn

First, you only NEED a roll cage if you hit something or something hits you. There is nothing inherent in automotive competition that will bend the car. Bending a car without hitting something or driving off the track indicates a car too flexible to make a good racer.

SCCA recommends roll bars and bolt-in cages for autocross, but it's not a requirement. They are all for safety, however. A bolt-in roll cage will give you some chassis stiffening.

SCCA REQUIRES roll cages for road racing. No ifs, ands or buts. I would think that NASA also REQUIRES roll cages for road racing.

For driver education events or other non-competition track events, roll bars or cages are not a requirement, but, again, you gain some chassis stiffness in the name of safety.

For the street, a roll cage is really just a statement about you, not an improvement of your car.

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Bruce in Houston
'94 Nissan Sentra SE-R w/ $tuff, converting to ITA
'98 Suzuki Bandit 1200S w/ $tuff
'02 Dodge Dakota SLT 4-dr tow beast, stock!