Bryce Menzies spends as much of his life as possible outdoors.
He has a boat so he likes to go to the lake. He surfs so he likes to go to the beach. He likes to ride dirt bikes and his Polaris RZR. Most of all, he said, I like to go out in the sand dunes, in the desert, and do things with my friends and enjoy it. Menzies said the only limitation is that it seems like racing takes up 90 percent of my time and quickly adds but I wouldn't change it for anything.
One reason he wouldn't change it is that it is going extremely well. He came back to the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series presented by GEICO this season, after three years of dominating the competition in another series, and with three points races remaining he is second in the Pro 2 standings.
Menzies probably is too far behind leader Brian Deegan to overtake him, unless Deegan suddenly forgets how to drive, but Menzies knows why he's in the position he is and he finds encouragement in the fact he's had two wins and two seconds in the past five starts.
For this year we built a new Pro 2, the 27-year-old Las Vegas resident said, so kind of throughout the season we've been fighting a few gremlins and (as a result) not being prepared enough at the beginning of the season to try to fight for the championship. We're just using this year as a little bit of a test with the truck and hopefully come back strong next year.
Next year will bring more change for the team that was formed in 2007 to field a Single (Limited) Buggy in the Championship Off Road Racing (CORR) series. Two years later CORR evolved into the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series.
I raced dirt bikes as a hobby, Menzies said. Then one of my dad's friends built us a Single Buggy. That was the first time I ever raced off road and I went out and won my second race of the weekend. We were just doing it for fun, but kind of figured out that I really like it and we just took it from there. I went from a Single Buggy to a Pro Lite and we got sponsors and kept growing the team and made it what it is today.
It's been eight years and I've won seven championships in desert and short course. I think with the passion we have for the sport and the drive that my dad (Steve Menzies) has for the business side of it we've built the team into a business and still had fun doing it.
The Red Bull/BFGoodrich/Ford team has campaigned Pro 2 trucks for Menzies and Pro 4 trucks for Ricky Johnson the past three years. Johnson won't be returning in 2015, however, and Menzies will be doing double-duty. If things go according to plan, he'll also be racing the full Best in the Desert series and selected SCORE endurance races in Baja California.
That's going to be a big jump, Menzies said of driving both the Pro 2 and Pro 4 at all Lucas Oil events. I haven't really done much racing in a Pro 4 and it's going to be interesting to go back and forth and try to figure out the driving style for both trucks and make it work. But I'm looking forward to it.
Menzies drove in a couple of RallyCross races this year and said he would like to try his hand in stock cars, but I just never had the time or never really put in the effort yet to see where that would lead.
I just love being out in the dirt, in the desert. That's kind of where my passion's been since I grew up. I love doing this and as long as I can make a paycheck at it I'll be here racing.
BRYCE MENZIES AT A GLANCE
- Age: 27 (21 August 1987)
- Lives in: Las Vegas, Nevada
- Marital status: Single
- Occupation: Race driver
- Car number: 7 in Pro 2
- Type of chassis: Ford
- Engine: Ford
- Crew Chief: Charlie Schiliere
- Sponsors: Red Bull, KMC Wheels, BFGoodrich Tires, Discount Tire, Rigid Lights, Ford
- Years in racing: 8
- Divisions raced: Motocross, Trophy Truck, Limited Buggy, Pro 2, Pro 4
- Series points standings: 5 Pro 2, 8 Pro 4, 15 Limited Buggy (2009); 3 Pro 2, 15 Pro 4 (2010); 17 Pro 2 (2011); 11 Pro 2 (2013)
