Mark Lindsay and his Polaris RANGER RZR won the 2008 SCORE UTV Sportsman championship after completing a historic season that included finishes at both the Baja 500 and Baja 1000.
Lindsay completed the championship with 204 points, finishing 40 points ahead of the second-place competitor. The SCORE title was one of four major UTV racing championships won with the original Polaris RZR 800 during the 2008 season
Mark Lindsay Wins the SCORE UTV Sportsman Championship
Lindsay’s 2008 championship was built on consistency across SCORE’s demanding Baja desert races. His team competed with a Polaris RZR during a period when production-based side-by-sides were only beginning to prove that they could survive hundreds of miles of rocks, silt, sand and high-speed desert terrain.
The team included drivers Mark Lindsay and Phil Holdsworth, with Jason Spiess and Derek Tungmala serving as navigators. Lindsay’s RZR accumulated 204 championship points to secure the UTV Sportsman title by a 40-point margin.
“The vehicle handled the silt, rocks, whoops and sand like a dream,” Lindsay said following the season. “Being the only side-by-side brand to finish the various SCORE races proves Polaris vehicles are more rugged than any other side-by-side.”
First Side-by-Side to Finish the Baja 500
One of the team’s most important accomplishments came at the 2008 SCORE Baja 500. Lindsay’s RZR became the first side-by-side to officially finish the race, completing it in 19 hours, 49 minutes and 30 seconds.
The finish was an important milestone for UTV desert racing. The original RZR had been introduced only the previous year as a 2008 model, and the new sport-oriented platform had not yet accumulated the long racing history that modern UTV teams can draw upon.
Completing the Baja 500 demonstrated that a properly prepared RZR could survive nearly 20 hours of racing across Baja California. The result also contributed valuable lessons about suspension, drivetrain durability, cooling, filtration, navigation and pit support.
Third in the UTV Class at the Baja 1000
Lindsay, Holdsworth, Spiess and Tungmala returned for the 2008 SCORE Baja 1000. Despite accidents and other challenges during the race, the team reached the finish and placed third in the UTV class.
Finishing both the Baja 500 and Baja 1000 in the same season helped establish the RZR as a credible long-distance desert racing platform. It also complemented an earlier milestone from Matt Parks, who completed the 2007 Baja 250 in a Polaris RANGER XP.
Together, those results meant Polaris side-by-sides had recorded finishes in SCORE’s Baja 250, Baja 500 and Baja 1000 by the end of 2008.
Four Major RZR Championships in 2008
Lindsay’s SCORE title completed a remarkable season for the Polaris RZR. RZR teams won championships across four substantially different forms of UTV racing:
| Series | Champion | 2008 Accomplishment |
|---|---|---|
| SCORE | Mark Lindsay | UTV Sportsman champion with 204 points |
| Best in the Desert | Jagged X | Second consecutive BITD championship and five straight victories |
| GNCC | William Yokley | Undefeated season in the UTV Open Modified class |
| WORCS | Doug Eichner | Side-by-Side championship with six podium finishes |
Jagged X secured the Best in the Desert championship after opening its season with two second-place finishes and then winning five consecutive races. The team completed that run with a victory at the 2008 Henderson Fabtech Desert Classic.
William Yokley went undefeated in the GNCC UTV Open Modified class, while Polaris/Lone Star/Eichner Racing driver Doug Eichner earned the WORCS Side-by-Side title with six podium finishes.
Why the 2008 SCORE Championship Matters
The four championships showed that the original RZR could be developed for several very different kinds of competition. SCORE and Best in the Desert required endurance across long, remote desert courses. GNCC tested machines in tighter woods racing, while WORCS combined elements of motocross, short-course racing and off-road terrain.
These championships were earned during only the RZR’s second model year. The results accelerated the transition away from racing vehicles derived primarily from utility UTVs and toward purpose-built sport side-by-sides.
Mark Lindsay’s Baja finishes were particularly significant because simply reaching the finish was a major achievement for UTV teams of the period. Modern race-prepared side-by-sides are substantially faster and more specialized, but teams such as Lindsay’s helped establish the vehicle-development and race-support foundation on which the current UTV desert racing category was built.
The 2008 season is an important chapter in the history of Polaris RZR Factory Racing and the broader history of the Polaris RZR. It is also covered in our retrospective, UTV History 2008: The Year Sport Side-by-Sides Took Shape.
Team Sponsors
Lindsay’s 2008 SCORE racing effort received support from Afraidium Racing, FST, BS Sand Seats, Maier Manufacturing, Maxxis, Iron City Polaris, King Shocks, ATVonics, TireBalls, DriFire Clothing, RE/MAX Lindsay Group, HMF Exhaust, Clif Bar, OMF Performance and Vision X.
Explore more historical racing results, model information and current news in the Polaris UTV archives.
