The 2009 World Off-Road Championship Series marked an important turning point in side-by-side racing. Mark Holz won four of the first five WORCS races in UTV Class 1 with a Holz Racing-prepared Polaris RZR S, captured four overall victories and secured the championship with two rounds still remaining.
Doug Eichner was nearly as dominant in the other WORCS UTV division. Driving another RZR S, the defending side-by-side champion earned four class victories in five starts and led his championship standings as the season moved toward its final rounds.
Together, Holz and Eichner demonstrated how quickly the wider, long-travel RZR S had changed UTV racing. A machine based on a production sport side-by-side was now winning against extensively modified competitors, including UTVs with engines as large as 1,000cc.
Mark Holz opened the 2009 WORCS season with a decisive UTV Class 1 victory in the Holz Racing Polaris RZR S.
A Breakthrough Season for the Polaris RZR S
Polaris introduced the original 50-inch RZR for the 2008 model year and quickly followed it with the wider 2009 RZR S 800. The RZR S measured approximately 60.5 inches wide and delivered about 12 inches of suspension travel with FOX Podium X shocks, giving owners a much more capable sport platform directly from the factory.
Race preparation remained essential. Holz Racing developed the chassis and suspension, while Kroyer Racing Engines supplied the engine performance needed to compete at the front of the WORCS field. The race car also used FOX Racing Shox, Maxxis tires and Team Industries clutching. Later in the season, Walker Evans Racing wheels appeared among Holz’s listed sponsors.
Those components transformed the RZR S into a competitive short-course machine without changing the importance of its production foundation. Its success showed that the emerging sport UTV category was beginning to replace utility-derived side-by-sides as the preferred starting point for racing.
2009 WORCS UTV Season at a Glance
| Round | Venue | Mark Holz | Doug Eichner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season opener | Speedworld, Arizona | UTV Class 1 winner | — |
| Round 2 | Race Town 395, Adelanto, California | UTV winner and fastest laps | — |
| Round 3 | Crazy Horse GP, Lake Havasu, Arizona | — | UTV Class 2 winner |
| Round 4 | Honey Lake MX Park, Milford, California | UTV Class 1 and overall winner | Class victory contributed to a RZR S one-two overall |
| Round 5 | Riverdale Raceway, Toutle, Washington | — | Class winner |
| Round 6 | Straddleline ORV Park, Washington | UTV Class 1 and overall winner; championship clinched | Class winner and second overall |
The surviving 2009 releases used changing class labels for Eichner’s division, identifying it as UTV Class 2 earlier in the season and UTV Class 3 in the championship announcement. The table preserves the results without treating those labels as separate championship campaigns.
Holz Wins the 2009 WORCS Opener
Holz began the season with a commanding UTV Class 1 victory at Speedworld in Arizona. Driving the Holz Racing and Kroyer-powered RZR S, he finished nearly three minutes ahead of his closest competitor.
The result immediately established the new RZR S as a championship contender. Holz credited the team’s offseason work developing chassis and suspension components, but the margin of victory suggested something larger: purpose-built sport UTVs were advancing rapidly.
Another Dominant Performance at Race Town 395
Holz followed his opening-round victory with another commanding WORCS performance at Race Town 395.
The series moved to Race Town 395 Raceway in Adelanto, California, for a course combining motocross sections, open desert and large sand whoops. Holz again won the UTV division while producing remarkably consistent lap times.
At one point, his best lap was reportedly 11 seconds faster than that of his nearest competitor. Holz also took the holeshot and praised the response of the Kroyer-powered engine when combined with the Holz chassis and suspension package.
Eichner Leads a RZR Sweep at Crazy Horse
Doug Eichner led a Polaris RZR sweep of his UTV class at the Crazy Horse Grand Prix in Lake Havasu City.
At the Crazy Horse Grand Prix in Lake Havasu City, Doug Eichner put the RZR S at the front of the other WORCS UTV division. Eichner won the class, while RZRs filled the second- and third-place positions behind him.
Eichner entered 2009 as the defending WORCS side-by-side champion. His continued success gave Polaris two championship threats in separate divisions and showed that the RZR S results were not limited to one driver or one race-preparation approach.
Holz Takes His Third Win in Four Races
Mark Holz drove the Kroyer-powered Holz Racing RZR S to his third WORCS victory in four races at Honey Lake.
Round 4 at Honey Lake MX Park in Milford, California, produced two more class victories for the RZR S and a one-two finish in the overall UTV results. Holz won UTV Class 1 and the overall, recording his third WORCS victory in four starts.
The Honey Lake victory came shortly after Holz and Matt Parks won the UTV class at the Best in the Desert Terrible’s 250. Holz noted that WORCS short-course competition and desert racing placed very different demands on a vehicle, yet the RZR S had proven competitive in both formats.
That versatility was particularly significant in 2009. Sport UTV racing was still developing, and teams commonly used competition to test suspension, engine, clutching and chassis components that would later be offered to recreational RZR owners.
Eichner Wins at Riverdale Raceway
Eichner added another WORCS class victory at Riverdale Raceway in Toutle, Washington.
Doug Eichner continued building his own championship campaign at Riverdale Raceway in Toutle, Washington. He drove the RZR S to another class victory during the June 6–7 weekend before the series entered its summer break.
Although the original report contained little more than the finishing result, it became an important part of Eichner’s four-win run and helped position him at the top of his division’s standings.
Holz and Eichner Control Round 6
When WORCS resumed at Straddleline ORV Park in Washington, Holz and Eichner delivered one of the season’s clearest demonstrations of RZR S dominance.
Holz won UTV Class 1 and took the overall victory. Eichner won his division and finished second overall, giving the RZR S both class wins and the top two positions across the UTV field.
After five contested rounds, each driver had four class victories. Holz held a commanding points advantage, while Eichner led his division’s standings.
Holz Clinches the Championship Early
Four class and overall victories gave Mark Holz enough points to clinch the 2009 WORCS UTV Class 1 championship with two rounds remaining.
The September championship announcement concerned the same Straddleline weekend covered by the Round 6 race report. It was not an additional victory. Once the points were calculated, Holz’s fourth class and overall win gave him an insurmountable lead with two rounds left on the schedule.
Holz held 98 points, 46 more than the second-place driver. He specifically credited the RZR S for performing consistently throughout the season and said the Kroyer-modified engine allowed him to take the holeshot even against 1,000cc side-by-sides.
Eichner left Straddleline with 99 points and the lead in his division after recording his fourth victory in five starts.
Why the 2009 WORCS Season Mattered
Holz’s championship was more than another collection of early RZR race wins. It illustrated a fundamental change in the type of machine that could dominate side-by-side competition.
Before the RZR, UTV racers generally began with utility-oriented vehicles and extensively modified their engines, suspension, chassis and occupant compartments. The original RZR introduced a more performance-focused foundation, and the wider RZR S advanced that formula with factory long-travel suspension and improved stability.
Holz Racing still performed extensive development, but the underlying vehicle was now designed for sport driving. Its ability to win short-course WORCS races, compete against 1,000cc machines and also succeed in desert racing helped validate the production sport UTV concept.
The RZR platform would evolve far beyond the original 800cc machines, eventually producing specialized models for trails, dunes, desert racing and rock crawling. The complete evolution is documented in our history of the Polaris RZR.
For specifications and model-year changes covering the machine at the center of the 2009 championship, see our Polaris RZR S 800 history and model guide.
Explore more Polaris UTV news, reviews and model history from UTVGuide.net.
