Megan Tyler was surprised when she received the SCCA® Worker of the Year Award (presented by Mazda) for Race Administration. “I hadn’t really considered my volunteer work as Race Admin,” she laughs. “I joke that by working multiple specialties, doing work on the back side of events, serving on the North Carolina Region board, and helping other Regions, I wouldn’t be eligible for a specialty award. I was surprised by being awarded Race Admin, but now I’m realizing that all my work is more than just filling a void and getting the job done so that we could get cars on course.”

Like quite a few people new to SCCA, she attended a race as a guest of a worker – that event for her came at VIRginia International Raceway. There was a call over the public address system that help was needed in Timing & Scoring.

“I answered the call and worked both days in T&S,” she says. “I had a great time that weekend with three generations of the Neave Family – Dot, Anna, Charity, and toddler Sammy – and I felt very welcomed. They were appreciative of my help and my new-found ability to tape. After that, I sidekicked to several different tracks with Anna Crissman or my now-husband Ben Tyler for another three years before becoming a member in 2016.”

Megan observed the people who put on the events and realized how much work and time were involved in planning and running an event.

“I began looking for additional ways to help beyond T&S,” she says. “It started with small things like making sure my specialty chief was able to eat lunch or staying late at the end of events to help the Timing chief or the Flag chief pack up equipment. If a specialty such as Grid or F&C was short staffed at an event, I was available to jump in and fill that vacancy.

“I’ve been learning the different specialties both to try new things and to be able to assist if that specialty needed help in the future or at other events,” she explains. “In addition to road racing, I’ve been able to jump in and help other events including Time Trials, plus admin for NCR’s F&C support to the Lucky Dog series. Recently, I served on the board and assisted in planning NCR’s events.”

Soon, she was involved in nearly every specialty and became the new volunteer contact person.

“Hearing the constant cry for new volunteers in all specialties, I stepped in to help my husband manage F&C newbies, but it quickly turned to helping all of the Region’s new workers,” she admits. “Because I came into SCCA with no motorsports background, it seems to be easier for me to relate to these newbies. There are many things that many of us take for granted as ‘common knowledge,’ like how to register and where to go when you get to the track that can be very overwhelming for first timers. And now that I’ve worked so many specialties, I try to arrange for our new volunteers to get to try out a few specialties so they can see the bigger picture of how events go together so they can find a specialty they like best and want to pursue.”

After trying nearly every specialty at SCCA events, Megan still has goals for 2025.

“I’ve already tried and worked many specialties, but I still have some volunteer goals for 2025,” she says. “At the VIR Hoosier Super Tour, I spent an afternoon shadowing Paul Morrison and the Data volunteers. For the SCCA Runoffs®, I look forward to continuing my experience with my newest specialty, Tech. I’m planning to learn fuel testing with the Badger family. Last year, I chief’d Express Tech and helped with Tech admin tasks. I already know that the Runoffs Tech crew has a list of things for me to learn this year. At some point, I would like to work Sound at an event. NCR-wise, my term on the comp board is up, so I’m being trained to take over NCR’s hospitality operations. I’ll be in the paddock, and I’ll be able to interact with both our participants and spectators.”

Megan still has plenty of energy to devote to SCCA. “I continue to be an active member because the newness hasn’t worn off,” she explains. “I’m still interested in SCCA and enjoy assisting the different Regions to put on events and helping out specialties that are short-staffed.”

SCCA depends on people like Megan Tyler, and she is very worthy of the title of SCCA’s Race Administration Worker of the Year.

Want to get involved like Megan, visit scca.com/trackside!

Photo courtesy Megan Tyler