SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1537671
SCORE JOURNAL 21 FACTORY UTV WARS - POLARIS Alex Scheuerell, Director of Racing at Polaris, shed light on the company's deliberate and ambitious approach to go "full force" into off-road racing and push the envelope of performance and durability. "At Polaris, we knew that the RZR Pro R was the fastest and most durable platform on the planet," he said. "So, we decided to prove it through racing. We set out to design a race machine based on a stock Pro R that could be raced in any series in the world – including SCORE and FIA. The results of this decision, just in SCORE alone, has netted them two Pro UTV Open Championships, multiple and consecutive race wins, sweeping the podium at the 2025 SCORE Baja 500, and finishing in the top 10 overall in the race. "Out of the many years of development and racing came the RZR Pro R Factory that has been killing it in the deserts of Mexico (SCORE), Saudi Arabia (Dakar), and SW United States. As proof, of the 17 races that Polaris has entered the Pro R Factory in, we've been the top overall UTV 15 of those times – including two Dakar wins." Their success has not gone unnoticed by SXS manufacturers such as Can-Am, Honda, Kawasaki, and others. While other manufacturers have also improved their vehicles in the same manner, they have yet to create a full-on "factory" team to the levels of Polaris. "Competition makes us thrive, " said Scheuerell. "Can- Am has put a lot of effort into the Maverick R and I'm sure they want to see it on top. Honda is pumping some money into the lower-level naturally aspirated classes which is also cool to see. But we're out to prove the Pro R is the best on the planet, so Overall UTV rankings are most important to us. I know some of the other manufacturers tout class wins, which is fine, but I would like to see SCORE transition to a slightly different model like some other series where the classes can be combined or at least compiled into an overall UTV ranking." • Alex Scheuerell Polaris Director of Racing