Minneapolis
- Polaris comes into the 2013 off-road race season with teams competing in the
Grand National Cross Country series (GNCC), World Off-Road Championship series
(WORCS), Best in the Desert (BITD), SCORE International and Mud Racing. Polaris
also will continue to offer its ATV racing contingency program and has expanded
its side-by-side contingency, which was only available for BITD in 2012, to
include the SCORE series.
"After a successful 2012, Polaris decided to expand its
factory race team for 2013,"
said Donna Beadle, race team manager for Polaris' Off-Road Division. "We look
forward to another exciting and successful race season."
GNCC
Polaris will continue to support National
Guard/Polaris/Coastal racing for 2013. William Yokley took the GNCC
championship in his National Guard Ranger RZR XP 900 and will look to
five-peat in the GNCC series this year. Yokley's teammate Scott Kiger finished
second in the GNCC Open Modified class in his RZR XP 900 and is back
for 2013.
Polaris has provided support to the Muscle
Milk/Blingstar team for 2013, and the team has signed Adam McGill to race a RZR XP
900 in
the Open Modified class. The Muscle Milk/Blingstar team also will run the WORCS
with RZR XP 900s.
BITD
After a successful 2012 season including winning the UTV championship,
Polaris has signed Holz/Coastal Racing to run BITD for 2013. The Holz/Coastal
Racing RZR XP 900 will be piloted by Kiger and Mark Holz.
Jagged X is back for 2013 for a run at the BITD
championship, racing the familiar No. 1919 RZR XP 4 900 in the Pro Class.
Brandon Schueler and Blake Van de Loo look to recapture the championship for
2013. Polaris general manager of RZR off-road vehicles Craig Scanlon
also will run the Pro Class with co-pilot Bill Schueler in the No. 1931 RZR XP
4 900 to give the No. 1919 a
run for its money.
SCORE
Jagged X will be making it Mexican debut in 2013 with Matt
Parks and Jason Spiess competing in the three-race SCORE Baja series in their
BITD 1932 RZR XP 4 900. SCORE has agreed to allow a new and
long-awaited PRO UTV class and Jagged X is looking to take the championship in
this inaugural year.
WORCS
WORCS' top three in the 2012 SxS Production 1000 class will
run for Polaris in 2013 in
the PRO Production class. Ryan Piplic, who won the championship, and Beau
Baron, who finished third, are newly-signed to the Polaris Factory Race Team.
Returning to the team is the 2012 second place finisher, RJ Anderson, who will
be on the hunt for the WORCS championship for 2013. All three racers will run RZR XP
900 units.
Muscle Milk/Blingstar Racing has also received support
from Polaris for the 2013 season. The three-man WORCS team consists of
Blingstar owner Clint Roberts, long-time racer Nick Nelson and H-Bomb Films CEO
Wes Miller. All will race RZR XP 900s.
Cody Rahders wowed the Production 700 class with his RZR 570,
taking the championship his first year out. Rahders will return racing for
Polaris in the RZR 570 in the Production 700 class.
King of the Hammers
Three-time King of the Hammers winner Mitch Guthrie is back
for 2013 to defend his hammer in his new RZR XP 900. Polaris also
will have Jon Crowley racing a RZR XP 900. Crowley raced a near-stock unit last year to
a fourth place finish. Guthrie and Crowley
finished one-two for 2013.
High Lifter
Team High Lifter-Polaris Racing will be muddin' on Polaris
vehicles once again for 2012. Racers including Brian Haughton, Josh Monroe and
Adam Schumaker will race the Sportsman XP 850, Sportsman 550, Ranger XPs
and Ranger RZRs.
Polaris Contingency
Polaris also will continue to offer an ATV race
contingency program in two ATV racing series, GNCC and WORCS, and a
side-by-side contingency in the Best in the Desert and newly-added SCORE
International. The total purse is more than $47,000. Racers must race 2009 or
newer Sportsman XP 850, Sportsman 550 or Scrambler XP 850 H.O. ATVs for the ATV
contingency and must run the Pro Class in a RZR product in Best in
the Desert or SCORE International. More information and complete rules about
Polaris' racing contingencies can be found at www.polarisfactoryracing.com