It’s been a while since the principle “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday” had enough influence on the general public to become quotable in humble company. Transferring that competitive luster and race technologies to the road car, however, the crossover has never been more widespread or more popular, with checkered flag connections and Baja-derived pickup trucks hanging in Sephora parking lots. Polaris Off-Road decided to make a similar bridge into the world of UTVs. The Minneapolis-based side-by-side maker announced what it says is the first comprehensive factory racing program and factory-developed competition UTV. As we’ve come to expect from automaker announcements, the program comes with a 10,000-square-foot shop in Vista, Calif., north of San Diego, staffed by a race management team, crew chiefs and mechanics, and three factory drivers. We haven’t yet seen what Polaris calls “the sport’s first purpose-built race-ready UTV,” but we imagine it will start with something like the retail RZR Turbo R Ultimate and add numerous competition-focused improvements from there. The sponsor list so far includes Rockford Fossgate, Synchronism, Progressive Insurance, GoPro, Fox Racing, Fox Shocks, Polaris Engineered Lubricants, Rigid Industries, BFGoodrich Tires and Method Race Wheels. Austin Weiland, Brock Hager and Caden McCarren complete the driver roster, with the trio responsible for everything from individual wins in the King of the Hammers and Baja 1000 to championship wins. They will compete in this year’s SCORE International Series which begins on March 28 with the San Felipe 250 and includes the Baja 500, Baja 400 and Baja 1000. They’ll also run best in the desert’s Vegas to Reno race, billed as “500 miles of dirt, rocks and glory.” UTVs are still so popular that companies don’t need to go beyond factory support for privateer teams. Robbie Gordon, in fact, said he It founded the Speed UTV to address what it perceived as deficiencies in consumer UTVs for anyone wanting a more hardcore off-road experience. We look forward to seeing what effect Polaris’ move has on the industry. The company could spend this year lining up everything. Yes, but next year – especially if Gordon can dial in the final tune for his speed rigs – we could have some of the best UTV racing ever.
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