Polaris Fielding a UTV in Class 1 at Baja 400

After walking away from an off-road motorcycle racing career that bagged multiple wins in the Baja 500 and Baja 1000, Max Eddy Jr. turned to navigating for trophy trucks and UTVs. He signed to the Polaris Factory Racing Team a few years ago as a navigator for racer and SCI team principal Craig Scanlon, doing well enough to graduate to the driver’s seat this year. Eddy Jr. drove to second place behind Polaris factory driver Brock Heger in the KOH Desert Challenge, then navigated for Heger’s class win at Can-Am UTV Hammers Championship.

Driving the RZR Pro R Factory for the team’s expanded eight-race schedule, Eddy Jr. is currently 13th in SCORE’s Pro UTV Open class. Teammate Cayden MacCachren sits first in the standings, Heger—last year’s class champion—is third. For the upcoming Baja 400 running September 10–15, the Polaris team has decided to put Eddy Jr. in the premier category, Class 1 Open-Wheel Unlimited Vehicles. This will be the first time SCORE has sanctioned a UTV among the unlimited buggies.

Polaris said the experiment “allows us to assess [the RZR Pro R Factory] performance on a whole new level, beyond the modified UTVs we have been up against since the inception of this factory program.”

The RZR Pro Factory won its class at all four of last year’s races and both SCORE races held so far this year. On top of that, UK outlet The Checkered Flag noted the RZR Pro Factory has dusted almost everything the class above: At this year’s Baja 500 and San Felipe 400, MacCachren beat all but one Class 1 buggy each time.

Polaris’ domination of the Pro UTV class is even more thorough than suggested. Ex-factory Polaris driver Branden Sims, still supported by the factory, sits in second place in the championship driving a RZR Pro R, his finishing time at San Felipe would have got him classified fourth in Class 1. Team principal Scanlon is fourth in the Pro UTV standings. Can-Am doesn’t get on the board until fifth with Victor Ranuio, followed by privateer Wayne Matlock in sixth driving another Polaris.

With Eddy Jr. out of contention for a meaningful championship placing this season, why not get him in a higher weight class and see how hard he can punch? We’re looking forward to the results. UTVs have been breaking all kinds of barriers over the past couple of years, and we’re here for it.

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