SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1540550
DRAFT KING Cayden MacCachren Knows When To Win One For The Team By Larry Saavedra photos by getsomephoto Polaris factory team racer Cayden MacCachren is in it to win it, and while that might sound cliché, he’s also committed to the idea that a team’s success is paramount to all else. Nothing showcased MacCachren’s true team colors more, though, than his realization that a win wasn’t in the cards at the 6th SCORE Baja 400, even after drafting the leader for most of the race. But his strong second-place finish in a corrected time of 9:16:46.082 showed his fans his team spirit, and it proved to be the perfect result that gave Polaris an incredible podium sweep, thanks to Polaris teammate Brock Heger’s first-place finish with a corrected time of 9:05:27.602 and Max Eddy Jr taking the third-place finish in class. But from the start, it was obvious that this UTV race was coming down to MacCachren vs. Heger, and for most of the race, that proved out. It’s become a consistent theme looking back at past results. MacCachren drafted Heger for hundreds of miles, inches off his bumper at times. Occasional bumper tags were part of the game, too. Together they passed the SCORE Trophy Truck Spec trucks, and by all accounts, it came down to the final miles of the race, which could have gone either way had Heger made a single driving error, or MacCachren hadn’t gotten stuck in traffic. It was a classic game of cat and mouse, some said. “Even about halfway through the race, Brock and I knew that we were 20 minutes ahead of the third-place car, and it would have been silly to go for it at the end,” says MacCachren, who drives the No. 1821 Polaris RZR Pro R. “It’s not something we as factory racers are giddy to go do, which is to kick each other’s ass. We want the best results for the team. I’m not saying I just took second place. I always want to win. But whatever works for the team and everyone who supports us.” MacCachren has been there before. Like in this year’s BFGoodrich SCORE Baja 500, where he took second behind Heger, and it surely won’t be the last time MacCachren finds himself eating Heger’s dust. But MacCachren can be relentless, as he’s proven it. His ‘24 SCORE campaign included triumphant performances at the SCORE Baja 400, SCORE Baja 500, and the SCORE San Felipe 250, demonstrating championship-caliber consistency across the peninsula’s most challenging terrain. Perhaps the mechanical reason Heger and MacCachren are racing head-to-head could be the prep work from SCI Motorsports. According to MacCachren, “Our guys at the shop really do a great job setting up these RZRs. They performed flawlessly at the Baja 400. We don’t have any CVT belt issues or temperature issues. We run these race cars in high gear with these transmissions, and we can hold these cars at 115 miles per hour all we want. But we typically don’t.” MacCachren said he never tries to put the RZR on the edge, and because of the amount of time he’s had in the driver’s seat, he can sense the sweet spot and hold it there. “You learn to drive them fast, but not hard,” he said. As for the so-called competition within a team, this head-to-head racing might be put to rest at the SCORE Baja 1000 in November. It’s anyone’s guess, though, what will happen. It’s definitely something you don’t want to miss. SJ “Brock and I knew that we were 20 minutes ahead of the third-place car, and it would have been silly to go for it at the end.”