Meet the MRT24 Scholarship Contenders: Tyler Kicera

Tyler Kicera, one of the top Spec Miata drivers in the world, is one of eight vying for this year's $100,000 Mazda Road to 24 scholarship.After a four-year hiatus from driving, Kicera returned to competition in 2012 with serious focus. His racing efforts have always been family oriented and his team is made up of three generations of racers. In the ultra competitive Spec Miata class, where teammates are important, Kicera won the 2016 NASA Eastern States championship and two SCCA US Majors nationwide point's championships in 2015 and 2016 as a single car effort. In 2016 he won over 75% of his starts.

Kicera notes, "Showing up to the track with a single car was tough in the beginning because we were so focused on what everyone else was doing with tires and setup, trying to play catch up. I prep and crew chief my own car making calls on setup and strategy with input from my crew." On his success over the past few seasons he added, "At some point we started to hit on the setup and I really tuned up my driving with data and video analyses. We stopped paying attention to what others were doing and really focused on making our car match what I needed as a driver."