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Polaris has expanded its race team for 2014, including a return to sponsored ATV racing.

Polaris comes into the 2014 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, Lucas Off-Road Regional Racing Series (LORRS), King of the Hammers (KOH) and Mud racing. Polaris will continue to offer its ATV and Side-by-Side contingency, and has added a reimbursement program on select models.

“After another highly-successful race season, Polaris decided to expand its factory race team for 2014,” says Donna Beadle, race team manager for Polaris’ Off-Road Division. “We are very excited to return to ATV racing in GNCC, and our RZR teams are even stronger this year.”

Photo courtesy Joey DiGiovanni // UTVUnderground.com

At long last, side-by-sides made their debut in the SCORE series as 13 units lined up at the start of the 2013 San Felipe 250. Jagged X’s Matt Parks and Jason Spiess took the checkered flag and were one of only two teams to finish the race.

The San Felipe 250 is notorious for being the roughest race in North America with endless whoops, deep silt and rocky sand washes. But after Parks did his pre-run, he knew that this would be a race of survival.

“The UTVs start dead last in SCORE races and after 240 vehicles had been through the course, it was unbelievably rough. So, we just decided to set a steady pace and take care of the car,” says Parks.

Team Motoworks / Can-Am racers Josh Frederick and Dillon Zimmerman recently teamed up to win the Pro class on the Can-Am DS 450 at the 2012 SCORE San Felipe 250 in Mexico. As well, Frederick won the most recent WORCS event in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., while Zimmerman finished third.

“Josh and Dillon have been working hard to put Team Motoworks / Can-Am and the DS 450 out in front of the competition whenever they compete,” says Jimmie O’Dell, Race Manager, Can-Am. “We’re very pleased with the recent racing results out west. Both of them battled hard to earn the San Felipe 250 victory and followed that up with a 1-3 showing on the WORCS podium in Arizona. I’m very pleased with these guys reaching the podium and getting victories in two different series.”