Polaris Wants To Give Someone $50K. You Just Have To Beat Its Entire Factory Racing Team To Win It

Do you and your UTV have what it takes to beat the entire Polaris RZR Factory Racing Team at the Baja 400? You could find yourself $50K richer!

Photo by: Polaris

By: Janaki Jitchotvisut

Jul 22, at 8:26am ET

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If you're someone who grew up playing video games like anything in the Pokemon or Tekken series, or maybe Mario Kart, then you're going to have, let's say, a certain variety of thoughts as you read what I'm about to tell you. Consider yourselves fairly warned, because if you've been paying attention to off-road racing series where UTVs regularly compete, you already know the Polaris RZR Factory Team has been on a bit of a tear lately.

Both the factory RZR machines and its drivers: Brock Heger, Cayden MacCachren, Ethan Groom, Joe Terrana, and Rodrigo Ampudia, have been tough competitors to beat. They're not completely untouchable, though; and that's why Polaris' new SCORE Challenge is an intriguing one.

On July 20, 2026, Polaris announced the terms of the SCORE Challenge, which will apply first to the upcoming Baja 400, and if no one successfully meets it, will then continue with the same terms stated here to the Baja 1000.

The rules are simple: Any UTV driver that successfully beats ALL of the Polaris RZR Factory Racing team vehicles at the Baja 400 and takes the UTV Overall win will then also walk away with a cool US $50,000 purse, courtesy of Polaris. That's it. That's all you have to do. Easy, right?

Note that no particular brand of winning UTV is specified. So it can literally be any UTV that accomplishes this thing, no matter who the manufacturer is. It could be another Polaris RZR, of course; but it could just as easily be a Kawasaki, Honda, Can-Am, or anything else.

I snapped this shot of Brock Heger winning again at the 2026 Mint 400. Can you beat him?

Photo by: Janaki Jitchotvisut

The main point, Polaris says, is offering an incentive to spice up the competition in general; both for the RZR Factory Racing Team, of course, but also for the Baja 400 event, as well. Motorsports are typically more fun when there's actual racing involved, and when it's not just one competitor or team consistently walking away with the championship. That's as true in off-road racing as it is in circuit racing; the fans, they clamor for genuine competition!

What do you think?

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The 7th running of the SCORE Baja 400 is scheduled to take place from September 9 through 13, 2026. Chances are excellent that you already know that if you were planning to attend, but full information can be found at the link above either way. Meanwhile, the 59th SCORE Baja 1000 is currently scheduled to take place from November 9 through 15, 2026, just two months later.

Will anyone be able to answer the Polaris SCORE Challenge at the 2026 Baja 400? Or will that purse still be in play come November? Either way, it'll be interesting to see what this bit of pot-sweetening brings to the table in terms of competition! Probably no blue turtle shells, as I have a distinct feeling they'd be against the rules, though.