Getting involved with the Sports Car Club of America® is about more than just sitting behind the wheel of a racecar, and that’s something Madison Simmons, of the Ohio Valley Region, knows well.  The daughter of a driver, Simmons is spending her weekend as the Chief of Pit & Paddock at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course during this weekend’s Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA® Super Tour event.

“I’m what they consider a ‘Track Brat,’” she said with a smile while standing in a sunny pitlane.  “My dad raced, so I’ve always been at the track since I was six months old.  I’ve kind of been an SCCA member my whole life, but officially joined in 2011.”

Simmons’ task this weekend is to monitor pitlane and the paddock to make sure everything runs smoothly. The job entails setting up a traffic flow in the paddock so drivers and crew can get from one place to another with ease, and making sure pedestrians are safe.  And having an extensive history working around racecars in a paddock is certainly handy for someone in her position.

“A lot of pedestrians don’t have their heads on a swivel, watching out for cars, like they should when walking through a paddock,” Simmons noted.  “Sometimes cars aren’t loud enough to warn them or they’re just not paying attention. So, keeping those fans and crew safe to enjoy the weekend is an important part of any race event.”

Working in both the paddock and pits gives Simmons an extremely up-close and personal view of the beautiful racecars that make up an SCCA field on any given weekend.  Plus, those volunteers working in pitlane often have a front-row seat for victory podium celebrations.

“I love being a member of the SCCA because of the great racing. I get to go to a bunch of different tracks, the travel is fun, and there’s never a dull moment,” Simmons said. “I’m just a real big fan of racing. Any time I can be at a racetrack anywhere, I definitely will be.”

Just like Simmons, follow all the action this weekend during the Hoosier Super Tour visit to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with live timing and scoring, lap notes, live video, Super Tour Radio presented by Hoosier Racing Tire and more via the SCCA® Pit Board available through www.scca.com/live.

Photo: Madison Simmons working pit lane during the Hoosier Super Tour weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.