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 Minneapolis,
March 15, 2007 –It’s official! A Polaris
RANGER is the first utility vehicle to win the UTV class at a
SCORE International event. The RANGER, piloted by Polaris Regional
Sales Manager Matt Parks, made history when it crossed the finish
line in six hours, 59 minutes and 20 seconds, a good 51 minutes
ahead of the next UTV class finisher.
“It was a great feeling being the first UTV finisher in
the Baja record book,” said Parks. “Our strategy was
to race the course more than racing the other vehicles, and the
RANGER did the rest by running flawlessly with no break downs.”
The UTV class at the SCORE Tecate Baja 250 consisted of five
utility vehicles with only two finishing. Parks started 439 out
of a total of 440 entrants and along with finishing first in class,
finished 122nd overall. The RANGER race team consisted of Parks
and Eric Anderson as drivers, and Ken Kilgore and Travis Wuertz
as co-drivers.
The modified RANGER is the closest to stock than most of the
utility vehicles running the UTV classes. Modifications include
a high-volume air cleaner, FMF pipe and clutch package for additional
horsepower and higher speeds. The suspension is fairly close to
stock with the exception chromoly front control arms and new shocks
created by Walker Evans Racing to handle the extreme conditions
found in Baja races. Parks’ RANGER runs OMF/Douglas wheels
with bead locks and Maxxis Bighorn tires with Slime to prevent
flats. Other modifications include a 4130 Chromoly cage (mandated
by SCORE), race seats with 5-point harnesses, 15-gallon fuel cell,
in-dash GPS, race radio/communication system, five HID lights
and a fresh air system.
Parks plans to race the Baja 500 with the RANGER in June.
About Polaris
With annual 2006 sales of $1.7 Billion, Polaris designs, engineers,
manufactures and markets snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs),
Victory motorcycles and the Polaris RANGER for recreational and
utility use.
Polaris is a recognized leader in the snowmobile industry; and
one of the largest manufacturers of ATVs in the world. Victory
motorcycles, established in 1998 and representing the first all-new
American-made motorcycle from a major company in nearly 60 years,
are rapidly making impressive in-roads into the motorcycle cruiser
marketplace. Polaris also enhances the riding experience with
a complete line of Pure Polaris apparel, accessories and parts,
available at Polaris dealerships.
Polaris Industries Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange
under the symbol “PII,” and the Company is included
in the S&P Small-Cap 600 stock price index.
Information about the complete line of Polaris products, apparel
and vehicle accessories is available from authorized Polaris dealers
or anytime from the Polaris homepage at www.polarisindustries.com.
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