My first road racing tech was in 1982 at the IMSA RS event at Riveside Ca. To say their tech was low key is a huge understatement. I had just finished building my first racecar, a 1976 Capri II 2.3 (hey we've all got to start somewhere) I can't remember who the tech guy was except that he was from the South East. He stood about 15 feet away from the car and said "My that sure is a purdy car" then asked "If its not too much trouble could you open the hood?" at which point he moved to within 10 feet of the car "My that sure is a purdy engine" Next he came up with another request "Could ya'll do me one favour? Could you move the Champion Spark plug decal to the front of the door, that's where they want it" That was it, no suit or helmet check. They assumed you were smart enough to take care of your self! How things have changed.
SCCA seemed to go off the deep end in the late eighties out here in CalClub I remember when they used to give me grief about that teeny little hole that always seems appear in your nomex underwear just by the collar. Finally I bought seperate underwear that I only used for tech, and by the end of the season the tech Nazis had tugged on it enough to make that little deadly hole and started giving me grief about it! At which point I informed them that I've never worn this set of underwear and I only saved it for tech and if it wasn't for them yanking on it it would be just fine! That didn't go over too well!
Now it seems that CalClub has found a happy medium. They don't do much in the way of compliance but they seem pretty good with the safety stuff.