Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: MaCachren ready to shake off bad luck

Friday, Dec. 4, 1998 | 10:39 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand's motor sports notebook appears Friday. His golf notebook appears Wednesday. Reach him at bh@lasvegassun.com or 259-4089.

Rob MacCachren generally is regarded as the finest off-road racer ever to come out of Las Vegas.

This year, the 33-year-old MacCachren also was the unluckiest.

As a second-year owner/driver in the Championship Off-Road Racing (CORR) short-track series, MacCachren learned that preparation and attention to detail couldn't overcome a rash of bad luck.

After winning the season-opening race in Wisconsin, MacCachren suffered through myriad mechanical problems before winning the penultimate race of the year at the Indianapolis State Fairgrounds.

"Actually, '98 was my most unlucky season in off-road racing ever," MacCachren said. "Fluke things happened. Through the seventh round, we led the points, then a freeze plug fell out of the block -- that just doesn't happen. Then a rock got stuck under the throttle peddle while we were leading a race, then a drive shaft broke.

"We won the first race, then we won round 15. In the 16th (round), we were leading the race with less than half the race to go and I lost the transmission. It just seemed like the harder we worked, the more stuff happened."

MacCachren, a winner of 15 championship titles in his 16-year career, hopes to turn his luck around this weekend as the CORR series visits Las Vegas Motor Speedway Saturday and Sunday for a non-points event. Next year, the CORR season finale will be staged at the LVMS half-mile clay track.

Although MacCachren hopes he got all his bad luck out of the way this season, he still has a major stumbling block to clear before the 1999 season starts. He is looking for primary sponsorship to support him through the 10-round series after Ford pulled most of its financial backing.

"At this particular moment, there is no support from Ford," MacCachren said. "Time is getting thin, so I'm out seeking sponsorship to help take over what Ford has pulled away from me for next year."

In the meantime, MacCachren lined up support from Trail Masters Suspension, BF Goodrich and Precision Gear, allowing him to run this weekend's races in his hometown.

Other local drivers scheduled to compete include Brendan Gaughan and Tommy Bradley.

"I'm really looking forward to this weekend," MacCachren said. "The last two years, I've been racing in Wisconsin so I've been leaving (Las Vegas) in the middle of May and racing back there all the way to the end of September.

"To be able to stay at home and sleep in your own bed and race is great. I can't wait. It's good to have a race in what is usually the off-season."

And despite a tight budget, MacCachren promised local racing fans will get a great show this weekend on the specially constructed track at LVMS.

"You'll see a lot of bumping and banging, trucks flipping and rolling over and then they'll go racing again," he said. "There's no other motor sport where you can do that. I really like doing this short-course series and if we can just expose more people to it, I think this sport could really take off."

Add CORR

Las Vegas Motor Speedway is adding $70,000 to drive the purse to $200,000 for this weekend's Winter Heat show. Practice begins at 8:45 a.m. and racing starts at 9:45 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday.

Tickets each day are priced at $15 for adults and $10 for children, senior citizens and military personnel. Children under 16 will be admitted free if they bring a non-perishable food item or toy, which will be donated to local charity.

Also, anyone who holds tickets from last weekend's rained-out USAC show at LVMS may use them for admittance to this weekend's races.

Formula One

Indianapolis Motor Speedway will undergo its first reconfiguration since the track was built in 1909 to accommodate the 2000 F1 race.

The permanent 13-turn, 2.55-mile road course will have cars running clockwise on the oval portion of the track on the main straight to turn 1, winding through the north infield and exiting back onto the oval near turn 2.

The grandstands beneath the Tower Terrace will be leveled to make room for 36 pit-side garages, as mandated by F1.

Course designer Kevin Forbes said the road course will not affect the Brickyard Crossing golf course holes that occupy the immense infield area.

"I designed this (road course) six years ago when we were making preparations for the golf course," Forbes said. "It has survived with only a few tweaks."

USAC

Todd Kane of Powell, Ohio, Tracy Hines of New Castle, Ind. and Michael Lewis of Noblesville, Ind. have been named USAC National "Rookies of the Year" in their respective racing series.

Kane finished 20th in the USAC Silver Crown Championship Series, Hines was 10th in the final Stoops Freightliner/USAC Sprint Car standings and Lewis fought off the challenges of three other top candidates to earn the National Midget Series honors with his ninth-place ranking.

Backmarkers

The new Las Vegas Motor Speedway motocross track will host the 10th annual GFI Las Vegas Invitational supercross Jan. 2-3. ... Harrah's Hotel in Laughlin, will host the Annual SCORE Awards Night on Dec. 12. Dinner tickets are priced at $30 each. No-host cocktails will start at 6:30 p.m. and dinner will be served at 7:30 p.m.