When the dust settled, it was Wayne Matlock who had earned the SCORE honors.

Veteran desert racer Wayne Matlock, of Alpine, California, wheeled his Polaris RZR in the Pro UTV FI (Forced Induction) class. He went the entire 1,802.68-mile length of the SCORE season solo to become the first UTV racer to win the season championship on overall points.

Going into this month’s Baja 1000, race number four in the four-race 2018 SCORE World Desert Championship, Matlock was tied in SCORE points race with Rob MacCachren. The eventual winning differential? Just nine points.

Matlock, 40 won the first and last races of the year, while finishing second in both the Baja 500 and the Desert Challenge to earn his 434 total season points. A champion SCORE quad racer earlier in his career, Matlock drove solo in the No. 2971 Polaris RZR XP Turbo UTV in this championship season. While earning his class title, Matlock edged out MacCachren,the man who went on to earn the Trophy Truck class championship, to earn his first SCORE Overall season point crown.

To climb the ladder, Matlock had to first overcome 23 starters in his class in the season-opening San Felipe 250, before finishing second out of 35 starters in the Baja 500 and second out of 19 starters in the Desert Challenge. He capped the season by defeating all hands in a field of 29 racers during the mighty Baja 1000.

While Matlock and MacCachren finished at the top of the leader board, third in overall points and finishing second in SCORE Trophy Truck was veteran Cameron Steele of San Clemente, California. Also cool: Kristen Matlock finished third in class points with two race wins this season in the Pro UTV NA (Naturally Aspirated) division.

#TeamRZR – Kristen Matlock Baja 500 | RZR

Iron woman Kristen Matlock Racing made history yesterday as the first female Overall UTV winner at the 50th #Baja500, also taking home the Pro NA ?. That's some serious #TeamRZR #MondayMotivation ?

Posted by Polaris RZR on Monday, June 4, 2018

Here is the four-race 2019 SCORE World Desert Championship. All races are being held in Baja California, Mexico:
  • 33rd San Felipe 250, April 3-7, San Felipe
  • 51st Baja 500, May 29-June 2, Ensenada
  • Inaugural Lucerna Baja 400, Sept. 19-23, Ensenada
  • 52nd Baja 1000, Nov.19-24, Ensenada

We’ll have coverage of all four races next year. Congrats to the champ!