Local contractor builds first-rate team

When Steve Menzies decided to go all-out as a competitor in the Championship Off Road Racing series, the Las Vegas contractor didn't hold back in forming his team.

His Menzies Motorsports operation is based in a new 31,000-square-foot shop in southwest Las Vegas that houses seven race teams for his six drivers.

Menzies also built a 1-mile test track nearby that resembles the one his drivers will race on Saturday and Sunday behind Buffalo Bill's in Primm, where CORR will have its second event of the season.

But any team is only as good as its players, and Menzies has formed somewhat of a Southern Nevada all-star team led by Rob MacCachren.

MacCachren, 43, is a former CORR champion and three-time selection to the All-America Motorsports team as selected by the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association. When CORR raced for the first time on the 1-mile Primm track last fall for another team, MacCachren won titles in Pro 2 two-wheel-drive trucks and Pro Buggy.

In the opener for this year's eight-event CORR series three weeks ago in Pomona, Calif., MacCachren won twice for Menzies in Pro 2 and twice in Pro Lite truck.

"Steve has assembled a very credible team, both behind the wheel and under the hood," said MacCachren, who continues to race a Trophy Truck in the SCORE Desert Series. "We started strong in Pomona, and that was a road trip. This weekend, it's a home game, and that gives us even more confidence going into the weekend.

"(Menzies) is building a skyscraper in triple-time, and it's amazing to watch it all unfold."

The team also fields vehicles for Bryce Menzies and Bruce Fraley (Pro Lite trucks), Larry Job (Pro Buggy) and Bryan Freeman and Brock Krahenbull (Single Buggy open-wheel racers).

The youngest driver is Menzies, 20, who was the top CORR rookie last year in Single Buggy when his father fielded two cars.

• DESERT RACING -- Driving a Class 1 buggy, T.J. Flores won the overall title in Saturday's Caliente 250 race in the Southern Nevada Off Road Enthusiasts series.

Flores, who won Class 1 in this year's Mint 400, needed 4 hours, 53.52 seconds to complete the four-lap race on the 54-mile circuit.

• NASCAR -- This year's banquet for the NASCAR Sprint Cup series will return to the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York. The date is Dec. 5.

• SHORT TRACK -- NASCAR categories get Saturday off at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to make way for the Battle of the Bullring, which will feature regional SuperClean Modified Series and West Coast Pro Trucks tours.

Legends Cars, Bombers and Bandoleros also will compete.

Contact reporter Jeff Wolf at jwolf@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0247.