Holy cow, 26 events in a year is A LOT!!! I have to race with 3 different clubs in my area to get 12 each year.
Like the other folks have said, don't go spending money on mods (yet
). Figure out the classing system. If you go throwing mods at the car, you'll end up in B Street Prepared or F Prepared, which is the deep end of the AX pool. With no mods at all, but some sticky tires you should be in B Stock, which is not a bad place to start. If you don't even bother with the tires, there is probably a street tire index class, which may be an even better place to begin...or, that club may have an open stock novice class.
Pick a class that let's you concentrate on learning to drive the car, not upgrade it. Find a skilled driver or instructor, and ask that person to ride along on a run or two each time you go out. Hey, even get your wife involved and have a little intra-family competition. With 26 events (don't try to get them all the first year), you'll improve very quickly. Most of all, have fun driving your car.