The 56th running of the SCORE Baja 500 took place this past weekend, where the Polaris Factory Racing team continued its winning streak as Cayden MacCachren, along with his co-driver Hailey Hein, delivered a dominant performance to secure the prestigious UTV Overall and UTV Pro Open class victory. This marked MacCachren’s third consecutive SCORE series win, showcasing the true power, strength, and control of the RZR Pro R Factory vehicle throughout the grueling 483-mile race. Fellow Polaris-supported racer Brandon Sims finished second overall with his race-modified RZR Pro R, followed by Polaris Factory Racing driver Craig Scanlon, who finished fourth overall.
“We have a dominant vehicle and, with as much success as we’ve had over the past year and a half, we came into this weekend with sky-high expectations. To come away with another UTV overall win is a testament to not only the superiority of our vehicle, but the strength of our Factory Racing program,” said Alex Scheuerell, Polaris Factory Racing Technical Director. “Today was a display of grit, focus, and tenacity by the entire team, and to have Cayden achieve his third consecutive SCORE win is unreal. Our team continues to refine and improve the RZR Pro R Factory with each race, and it shows in how we’ve dominated the competition.”
Based on the finishing order of the San Felipe 250, MacCachren started the race in first, with Brock Hegar second, Max Eddy Jr. fifth, and Scanlon seventh. After the green flag waved, MacCachren immediately began methodically working his way through the field of Class 10 cars, battling intense dust while setting a solid and consistent pace up front. By race mile 112, a fierce battle for overall position had ensued with positions swapping back and forth with Polaris-supported racers Ronnie Anderson in second, Sims in fourth, MacCachren in fifth and Scanlon in sixth.
By race mile 184, MacCachren had moved back into first on corrected time in the Pro UTV Open class and was a mere 26-seconds behind the UTV overall leader. MacCachren continued to drive a clean and consistent race, ultimately overtaking the lead on corrected time around race mile 240 and opening up a 3-minute lead. Sims, who had moved into second, continued to keep the pressure on MacCachren throughout the second half of the race, but as they neared race mile 258, MacCachren had extended his lead to six minutes. He continued his strong performance, crossing the finish line and taking the win in 10:36:42.481. Sims secured a commendable second-place finish, followed by Polaris Factory Racing team principals Craig Scanlon and Travis Clarke who finished fourth overall.
“Today is exactly what you work for as a professional racer: starting first and finishing first. We didn’t physically see any other UTVs out there but knew we had some battles going on by corrected time, so we’re thrilled to come away with our third win in a row and Polaris Factory Racing’s eighth consecutive win,” said MacCachren. “Today’s course was rough and incredibly dusty, but our RZR Pro R Factory performed flawlessly, soaking up everything the race course threw at it. It honestly feels like the machine just gets better each race.”
The Polaris Factory Racing team will be back in action at the Best in the Desert Vegas to Reno on August 14-17, 2024. To learn more, please visit the Polaris RZR website.
