Mark unless you are doing a lot of DE events and are pushing the car to the limits I doubt you will have any issues with the car. Guys doing 20 DE events a year are making upgrades to their cars because they are trying to squeeze just a little more out of it, not so much the car can't hold up. If you are pushing hard and are thresh hold braking a lot you might want to consider track pads which of course are hard on rotors but that is something you can do yourself pretty easily. Not much harder than jacking up the car. Same goes for oil changes, I do my own for less than $70. I love to do as much as I can myself, its part of the fun and you start to learn the mechanics of the car.

Yes you need a helmet and there could be a few spares at a PCA DE event but why not get your own. You can get a decent Bell for less than $400. I got my SCCA regional competition lic last year to I have a complete nomex suit, gloves, socks. Manditory and inspected before a race. As for inspections, get the list of approved inspector and call, I tried one garage in Waterbury and they said since the car was so new they wouldn't charge me. I ended up going to a guy in town here at his house and he didn't charge me.