Spring Mountain racing facility hosts a job fair

Expansion plans are again underway at the Spring Mountain Motor Resort and Country Club on the far south end of Pahrump.

The facility, which is owned by John Morris, offers a sundry of driving schools and track rentals, and is also home to a private motorsports country club.

Late last month, the resort, founded in 2004, hosted a job fair to seek qualified candidates for a wide variety of positions in anticipation of future development, according to Human Resources Manager Tim Wigchers.

“We were successful in buying more land, so as the economy and everything else comes back, we are going to start building more track here and that’s going to mean more operations,” Wigchers said. “We are expanding, but we don’t have a time line because the whole pandemic kind of reshuffled everything. From what we are seeing, the driving school students are traveling more, and our members are coming more often, so the business is returning and we are ready to look at a really good year in going forward.”

In the course of time

Wigchers also spoke about what members of the resort and the community at-large can expect once the new construction phase gets underway.

“The company that owns the Silverton in Las Vegas has purchased land below where our lake is, to build a hotel and casino,” he noted. “They had some of the same delays that we did with the pandemic. They already own the land, but I’m not sure what their time line is. That is definitely coming and I keep watching for the county commissioners’ agenda item on it.”

Great turnout

Regarding the recent job fair, Wigchers said it was a very successful event last week, while noting how the COVID-19 outbreak affected operations at the facility.

“We were closed for the pandemic like a lot of other businesses here in town, and business has been slow coming back, but we are kind of at the point now where we are ready to be 100 percent. We did lay off roughly 75 percent of our workforce, and some departments we slowly brought back, as business started to return. Operationally, we have been at 100 percent for many months now, but just about all of our customers fly in from other parts of the country and it’s taking a while for people to become more comfortable traveling.”

Under sunny skies and mild temperatures job seekers filled out and turned in their applications to department managers seated at tables.

Wigchers said the facility is looking to fill a wide variety of positions.

“We actually have about 15 different openings in a number of different departments,” he said. “Our executive chef is looking for full-time clubhouse support and a bartender. Our maintenance manager has a few positions to be filled. He’s looking for a maintenance worker and he’s also looking for some general laborers, which are entry-level jobs. When we burn through tires on the cars, and they are no longer good for the track, we turn them into safety walls and build tire barriers, so it takes people to put those together. Our track safety supervisor is looking for people that are seeking part-time work. We have flaggers out on the track and that’s kind of his world.”

The skilled and unskilled

Additionally, Wigchers said there are full-time positions for the facility’s sales department, while the head of the racing department is looking for a few technicians to hire.

“In that case we are looking for applicants who are a little more skilled in that area because they are actually working on member cars,” he said. “We are also looking for entry-level technicians, and a basic entry-level car washer. We are also looking for part-time staff in our store, as well as a full-time janitor, so it’s from entry-level all the way up to very serious skilled positions. As far as wages are concerned, entry-level jobs are what they are, within the 9 to $10 an hour range. On some of the other positions, it’s based on experience.”

Wigchers also noted that there are other highly sought-after positions that require a high level of skill and experience.

“We don’t find a lot of local applicants for driving instructor positions, but we have a lot of people that want to be Corvette driving instructors,” he noted. “It’s a pretty unique skill set. Corvette now has a new eighth generation car and people are excited to learn how to handle it through our Corvette Driving School.”

Must haves

Experience aside, Wigchers noted there are a few things that applicants must possess.

“You need to have a valid driver’s license and a clean driving record,” he explained. “Every employee is insured to drive every car, so if you are a janitor, most of your time will be spent in an older pickup truck picking up trash, but you’re also insured to drive a $150,000 Corvette. As far as entry-level, we all started somewhere. You could choose to work at a convenience store or at a burger place, or you can wash cars and be in and out of 2021 Corvettes all day long. I would think it’s kind of exciting to work at the racetrack.”

Wigchers also weighed in on the issue of the facility’s drug testing policy for employees.

“Regarding drug testing, we drug test after accidents and for suspicion, so we do not drug test upfront, but we talk about it all the time,” he said. “I think we saw more than a hundred people here today. We always accept applications and when openings do come up, we go to the applications first, before we start posting.”

The apprentice

One applicant who turned up for the job fair was Pahrump Valley High School student Joey Smith, who is interested in actually working on the cars.

“I’m interested in the school shop helper or the advanced racing shop helper,” he said after turning in his application. “I’ve been working on cars my whole life and I felt like this would be a good job, but I’m technically still in high school. As soon as COVID-19 lets up, I am going to take my test and get my diploma.”

Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch is located at 4767 S. Highway 160.

For additional information, call 775 727-6363, or email Tim Wigchers at tim@racespringmountain.com.

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes