Oh for crying out loud Dave. I mean this in the kindest most respectful way, but you are bass-ackwards on that toy thing. Statements like that make it all the more fun to take my stick car out and whoop up on somebody driving with one of those slippery, slimy, stinky, fluid couplings.
It's the automatic that's a toy. Like a videogame. Just point the car down the track, release a button, do your knitting, call your girlfriend, what ever, while the car does all the work, until you reach the finish line. Driving a manual transmission car actually gives you a skill to master. And it's very gratifying when you get it right!

Assuming that an automatic car and a stick car are both well set up and driven by a highly skilled operator, there is no discernible performance or safety difference. True, everything is easier with the automatic, and most racers will default to more easy instead of more fun. But if the OP here is a dedicated stick man, he'll do more work and have more fun.