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Who Won the 2026 SCORE Baja 500 Pro UTV Open Class?

Branden Sims won the Pro UTV Open class at the 2026 SCORE Baja 500, crossing the finish line in 10:33:59.639 in the No. 1886 Polaris RZR Pro R Factory. The win led a Polaris podium sweep, with Wayne Matlock second at 10:44:26.307 and Ethan Groom third at 10:44:44.074. Defending Pro UTV Open champion Brock Heger suffered a late-race front A-arm failure and finished 15th in class. The result strengthened Sims's position heading into the remainder of the SCORE World Desert Championship season.

After 469.4 miles across Baja California, Branden Sims took Pro UTV Open at the 58th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 500 in the No. 1886 Polaris RZR Pro R Factory, crossing in 10:33:59.639 — first in class, 19th overall, and the headline of one of the strongest Pro UTV Open results of the 2026 SCORE World Desert Championship season.

Sims's win led a Polaris sweep through the Pro UTV Open top six: Wayne Matlock second at 10:44:26.307 and Ethan Groom third at 10:44:44.074. Defending Pro UTV Open champion Brock Heger suffered a late-race front A-arm failure near race mile 415 and finished 15th in class.

Building toward Baja

Baja 500 prep stretches across the calendar — testing, shock tuning, chassis prep, cage fitting, lights, navigation electronics. The Polaris factory and factory-supported programs absorb that prep cycle into a near-continuous loop between races.

By the days before race week, the transporters were heading south. RZR Factory Racing rolled into Ensenada and set up the paddock for the second SCORE round of 2026.

Branden Sims arrived at the Baja 500 in a new chapter of a long Polaris run. After 12+ years racing for Polaris in the broader UTV ranks, Sims joined the RZR Pro R Factory program — the same factory effort anchoring Polaris's recent Pro UTV Open run. The buildup also showed in the smaller details across the program: RIGID Industries lighting, fresh wraps, and the final-week prep push.

One of the more discussed announcements heading into race week was the Polaris Factory Racing pairing of Joe Terrana with Baja veteran Rodrigo Ampudia Jr. The partnership extends through the SCORE series, with Terrana remaining driver of record in the No. 1898 RZR Pro R Factory machine running the iconic Ampudia pink livery.

Across the broader Pro UTV Open field, similar prep cycles played out. Shake-down runs, last-minute mechanical work, and chase rig staging filled the final days before race week opened in Ensenada.

The 58th Baja 500 takes shape

The 58th running of the BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 500 ran June 3–7, 2026, covering 469.4 miles of Baja California terrain — high-speed desert washes, rocky mountain passes, silt beds, and the unrelenting whoops that define the central section of the course. A single mechanical failure at the wrong moment can erase six hours of strong driving, and the 2026 edition delivered that result across multiple programs.

SCORE's race-week schedule rolled out the way it does every year — contingency in downtown Ensenada, manufacturer activations, tech inspection, and driver meetings under typical late-spring Baja weather.

The course itself is what makes the Baja 500 what it is. Mountain passes, beaches, silt beds, and high-speed wash sections — the layers of Baja terrain reveal themselves over 469 miles in a way no single drive can prepare for.

The Pro UTV Open entry list returned several veterans to Baja for the 500. Mitch Guthrie Jr. lined up after a strong run at Desafío Ruta 40 and Dakar with Ford Racing. Norza Racing brought their car back with a new look. Race week marked a return to Baja for a number of competitors whose schedules had taken them elsewhere earlier in the season.

Prerunning the course

Prerunning is where Baja drivers learn the course — and where the difference between sixth and first is often built. The 2026 Baja 500 course took drivers through some of the most demanding terrain on the SCORE calendar: 469 miles of summit passes, mountains, beaches, and silt beds.

The course had several recurring features that drove prerun focus. Mountains and silt beds dominated the middle stretches and produced the highest concentration of mid-race mechanical failures in prior editions. Summit passes and beach running added their own variety.

Prerun produces its own conditions. By the time multiple programs had run the course several times, the flowy sections were already getting whooped out, and traffic and rocks added an additional layer of risk to every pass.

Beach and silt sections required particular attention. Silt that's loose at the leading edge can leave a car stuck at race pace, and lines that worked at previous SCORE rounds don't always work in June.

Dust was a constant in prerun. By the second or third pass through any section, the air carried enough loose material to compress visibility down to the back of the car ahead.

Drivers and team accounts captured prerun activity across the week, with group stops and on-course rehearsals filtering through social posts.

Late in the prerun window, the focus shifted to the mountain sections carrying the bulk of the elevation change. Teams that had not yet seen the route in 2026 conditions made final passes.

By the final days before tech, the prerun window had closed and focus shifted to finalizing the race vehicle.

Tech inspection and the day before

Tech inspection ran the day before race day. SCORE tech crews worked through the field methodically — safety equipment confirmation, vehicle compliance, timing-transponder validation. Contingency row in Ensenada built out alongside tech.

For the leading Pro UTV Open entries, tech is a formality more than a test. The leading Polaris efforts arrive with cars built to the rulebook, but every car still runs through the same process, and the inspection lines build through the day until the last car clears.

Race morning

Final driver briefings rolled out before the green flag dropped, and the Polaris factory cars staged at the front of the start sequence under the same procedure SCORE has run for years. The Pro UTV field queued up behind the Trophy Trucks and the rest of the four-wheel start order.

When the green flag dropped, the UTV field released in waves from Ensenada. Sims started 74th and Heger 69th in the combined four-wheel start sequence — both deep enough in the order that the open road in front of them carried both opportunity and dust hazard.

By the time the leaders began checking in at the first sector points, the front of Pro UTV Open had already begun to develop, with Polaris-backed entries running near-identical pace.

Through the sectors

The mid-race story belonged to the front of Pro UTV Open. Sims, Matlock, Groom, Guthrie, Gonzalez, and Heger traded position at the kind of margins that rarely decide a Baja race. Sector 4 splits across the top five were separated by less than three minutes.

The largest sector-time spread among the top Pro UTV Open finishers came in Sector 5. Sims's S5 of 2:15:09.621 ran approximately 9:15 faster than Matlock's 2:24:24.354 — a single-sector advantage that accounted for the bulk of the eventual 10:26.668 race-winning margin to second. The fastest single S5 in the class came from Joe Terrana / Rodrigo Ampudia at 2:14:37.267, recorded during the mile-200 driver change, though that entry would finish further down the order overall.

Around the same point in the race, the Polaris Factory team executed the Terrana/Ampudia handoff. Ampudia took over the No. 1898 RZR Pro R Factory at roughly race mile 200, and the car continued running clean pace through the middle sectors.

The Ampudia/Terrana entry continued through the second half of the course, the pink-livery No. 1898 running through the remaining sectors after the handoff.

Brock Heger held competitive pace through the middle sectors. His S6 split of 1:27:54.732 was among the fastest in class three sectors after Sims had opened the gap at the front. Through S6, Heger's race remained on track.

For Team SYLVANIA, the race had been reshaped early. After their mile-125 incident (covered below), the team spent the middle and later sectors running the car they'd put back together, working toward the finish.

Across the manufacturer lines, Honda Talon entries continued their consistent presence in the Pro UTV Normally Aspirated category. The Raceco Honda Talon program ran cleanly through the sectors and put a finish on the board.

Sims's S6 (1:30:09.376) and S7 (1:29:47.090) splits remained in the leading range through the closing sectors of the course. Across the broader top five, the closing-sector pace stayed competitive — the eventual finishing positions reflected sector consistency more than late-race shifts in the running order. The top five finished within 14:42 of each other after nearly 470 miles.

In the pits

Pit operations across the leading Polaris programs ran cleanly through the day. Shared infrastructure across the factory-supported teams kept turnaround tight — fuel, tires, fluid checks, driver handoffs where applicable.

RZR Factory Racing's pit work is part of why the program runs as consistently as it does at Baja. Pit operations on Ethan Groom and Brock Heger ran cleanly, with chase support carrying tools and personnel between staged points along the course.

In Baja, the difference between a clean race and a difficult one often comes down to time saved or lost in pit stops. The leading Pro UTV Open programs all turned in clean pit work across the day — the compressed top-five margin in class, less than fifteen minutes from first to fifth across 470 miles, reflects pit discipline at every program in that group.

Incidents

Near race mile 415, deep in the seventh and final sector of the course, Heger's No. 1896 Polaris RZR Pro R Factory suffered a front suspension failure. Images that surfaced afterward showed the car dragging a damaged front wheel assembly forward toward the finish — consistent with an A-arm failure that compromised the front-end geometry. Heger and his crew refused to retire, and the team coaxed the car the remaining distance to a finish, but the time loss was massive.

The official sector data tells the story cleanly. Through S6, Heger's sector times had been competitive: S2 at 1:31:29.695, S3 at 1:31:12.139, S4 at 1:36:23.957, S5 at 2:25:56.226, S6 at 1:27:54.732. S7 — the sector where the failure occurred — took 4:39:58.832, roughly three times longer than any of his other sectors. Heger finished 15th in Pro UTV Open at 13:28:09.024, 2:54:09.38 behind Sims.

Earlier in the race, Team SYLVANIA encountered its own incident. At race mile 125 — well inside the opening third of the course — the team stopped with two broken wheels and a broken CV boot. The crew executed two wheel replacements and an axle swap, and the car returned to course. From there, the team continued forward and reached the finish, a different outcome than the one they had lined up for but a clean recovery from an early setback that has ended Baja runs for many programs.

The Baja 500 served as a reminder of how unforgiving Baja remains even for the fastest, best-prepared programs. The Heger setback was the kind of moment that can reshape a season's competitive picture; the SYLVANIA recovery showed what's possible on a day when an early incident could have ended the race entirely.

Crossing the finish

By the final sectors, the leading Pro UTV Open positions were largely established, and the finish reflected the pace each team carried through the second half of the race. Ethan Groom brought his RZR Pro R Factory home third in class. The Gonzalez family — running multiple cars across multiple programs — brought their entries home through the evening, including Dallas Gonzalez's fifth-place Pro UTV Open finish.

Across the broader UTV field, the class winners reached the finish on their own pace. Kaden Wells took the Pro UTV Forced Induction class win in the No. 2935 Can-Am Maverick R at 11:25:20.678. RZR Factory Racing brought its team home with the Pro UTV Open podium sweep complete.

For drivers further down the order, the finish line marked the end of a long, difficult day. Team SYLVANIA crossed the line after the mile-125 incident and recovery. Honda Talon entries continued their consistent presence in the Pro UTV Normally Aspirated category and put finishes on the board.

Elsewhere in the broader four-wheel race, Luke McMillin took SCORE Trophy Truck at 9:10:54.149, with Alan Ampudia second and Bryce Menzies third — three trucks separated by 28 seconds. Trey Gibbs led Trophy Truck Spec, Cameron Steele Trophy Truck 2WD, Brendan Gaughan Class 1, and Gustavo Vildosola Sr. Trophy Truck Legends.

Pro UTV Open podium

The Pro UTV Open podium ceremony confirmed what the timing system had already established: Polaris, top to bottom. Sims, Matlock, and Groom stood on the podium in Ensenada.

Matlock added another Baja 500 podium to a long list, his pace through the middle sectors keeping him in the leading group throughout. Groom finished just 17 seconds behind, one of the more consistent Polaris drivers in 2026 SCORE competition.

Pro UTV Open Top Five Results

The Pro UTV Open top five tells the story of how the win was built and how thin the margins below it were. Sims's race was decided across the middle sectors. After running S1 in a competitive 27:12.234, his 2:15:09.621 S5 opened a 9:15 advantage over Matlock and similar margins over the rest of the leading group. From S5 forward, the gap to second held to the finish.

Behind him, the battle for second was decided in the same sector. Matlock's 2:24:24.354 S5 ran 4:22 faster than Groom's 2:28:46.446 — a single-sector swing that separated second from third by just 17 seconds at the finish. Groom was faster than Matlock in S4, S6, and S7, but Matlock's S5 advantage carried the position.

Mitch Guthrie Jr. crossed in fourth at 10:46:05.064, 80 seconds behind Groom. Dallas Gonzalez completed the top five at 10:48:41.737 — 14:42 behind Sims. The full top five finished within fifteen minutes of each other across nearly 470 miles, a margin that reflects how level the Polaris program has become in 2026.

The Polaris depth extends well beyond the podium. Joe Terrana finished sixth in class at 10:56:33.512, and every position from seventh through tenth was held by a Polaris RZR Pro R or RZR Pro R Factory entry.

Can-Am Answers in Forced Induction

While Polaris controlled Pro UTV Open from start to finish, Can-Am claimed the Pro UTV Forced Induction class with a result that mattered both inside FI and for the broader 2026 SCORE story.

Kaden Wells took the Pro UTV Forced Induction class win in the No. 2935 Can-Am Maverick R at 11:25:20.678, 37th overall. Trey Sprinkle followed in second at 11:57:33.021, with Ivan Rivera third (11:58:28.655) and Allen Alexander fourth (12:03:18.747). All four leading FI finishers ran Can-Am machinery, extending the manufacturer's consistent FI presence through the early 2026 season.

Pro UTV Forced Induction and Pro UTV Open compete in different classes under different rules and on different platforms. Polaris's dominance in the Open class does not translate directly into FI competitiveness, and Can-Am has continued to develop the Maverick R into a consistent FI front-runner. The Baja 500 result kept the broader manufacturer story balanced — Polaris remains the platform to beat in Pro UTV Open, but Can-Am remains the platform to beat in Pro UTV Forced Induction.

Manufacturer Breakdown

Polaris extended its position as the platform to beat in Pro UTV Open. All ten top finishers in class were Polaris RZR Pro R or RZR Pro R Factory entries, and Polaris machines continued to fill the broader UTV finishing positions across Pro UTV Normally Aspirated, Pro Stock UTV, and Sportsman UTV categories.

Can-Am's Pro UTV Forced Induction performance is covered in the section above.

Honda Talons continued their consistent presence in Pro UTV Normally Aspirated, with Ricardo Torres (No. 1900) and Lawrence Janesky (No. 1914) both completing the race in NA and the Raceco Honda Talon program logging a finish. Yamaha entries appeared in Sportsman UTV's via Ricardo Acevedo (No. 1814).

2026 SCORE Pro UTV Open Championship Implications

The Baja 500 result strengthens Sims's position heading into the remainder of the SCORE season. A Pro UTV Open Baja 500 win is among the most valuable individual results a UTV racer can produce, and Sims's performance — a 9:15 advantage over Matlock in S5 and a final 10:26.668 margin to second — established his pace across the full race rather than in any single moment.

Matlock, Groom, Guthrie, and Gonzalez all secured strong race results, finishing on the podium or within 14:43 of the win. For Heger, the late-race A-arm failure turned a competitive day into a 15th-class finish at 2:54:09.38 behind Sims, though completing the race kept points on the board.

For the program-level story, Polaris's Baja 500 result extends what San Felipe had earlier suggested — the depth of the factory and factory-supported Polaris effort has reached a point where multiple drivers in the program can win on a given weekend.

Looking Ahead to the 2026 SCORE Baja 400

The Pro UTV Open field is at one of its strongest points in recent memory, with the Polaris program producing multiple podium sweeps in 2026 and tight margins between the leading drivers.

The next stop on the calendar is the SCORE Baja 400, where the same drivers and factory programs will produce the next chapter in a championship season that just got considerably more interesting.

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The Takeaway

Sims's win, Polaris's top-ten lockout in Pro UTV Open, and Heger's late-race A-arm failure all reinforced the same reality: Baja rewards preparation, durability, and execution over nearly 470 miles. The Baja 400 is up next.