I think I can summarize the difference between autox and track driving in one simple sentence. At an autocross, hitting cones means X amount of seconds added to your run time; at the track, hitting cones means (oh crap!) you just went off the track and might be headed for trouble.
I actually started autocrossing because I thought it would make me more brave at the track. Oh well, the brain just got in the way. There's nothing wrong with self-preservance and not wanting to spin -- having fun is where it's all at.
