Yeah, that is one issue: it's not just about the driving. You have to be there early, usually 8-10am or so. Most regions finish around 4pm. That's pretty much all day, and you only get to drive for a few minutes. The rest of your day is spent waiting to run, working the course, and sometimes just doing whatever. It's all part of the experience, and a lot of fun, but it's not nearly as much driving as an open-track event. If you want to get lots of seat time without a huge time commitment, and money isn't as much of a concern, a track day provides as much as hours of seat time for only a few hundred dollars. You need good brake pads and tires, and a few other things, but it's still cheaper per minute.
Some SCCA regions run Solo II events in a split-day format. Philly does a great job with this. You show up at 8am and leave at noon, or come around noon and leave at 4pm. They schedule things so that when you're there you're busy working or driving, and then you can just leave.
A little prep work for a Contiqugar:
Jack up tire pressures to 45 front 35 rear.
Run 6.5 (or even 7) qts of oil in a V-6.
Change the oil if it's getting close to that time anyway.
Check lugnut torque.
If you have camber adjustment, mark where you are with a sharpie, then crank it to the max.
General stuff can be found on one of many newbie guides around the internet.
