By Will Burgess

[Updated 6/7 below.]
[Final update 6/9: SCORE Addresses Baja 500 Official Results Controversy, Time Credits Awarded]

Ensenada, Mexico — Team Polaris Factory Racing led by Branden Sims (#2969) was all cheers and smiles in the Winners Circle Saturday night at the conclusion of the 54th Annual Score International Baja 500 Race.

Sims, who is sponsored by Tensor Tires, and riding in his Polaris RZR Turbo R, took to Instagram yesterday after Score International moved his team from second in class to third after a technicality prevented his progress on the track (pictured), writing:

“𝘌𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 @𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘷𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢 ‘𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵’ 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘫𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 50+ 𝘷𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵, 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐

𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘥𝘮’𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘚𝘊𝘖𝘙𝘌 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦……

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 @𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘹 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥.”

The Official Finishes page on Score’s website for this weekend’s race show Sims place #2 in the Top 3 Overall UTVs ranking with a time of 12:05:21.

However, the Official Results sheet posted June 5th at 1:06 PM does reverse this result to award previously third-in-class Brandon Schueler (#2919) into second place in the Pro UTV Forced Induction class with a time of 11:54:49 after a time credit of 25 minutes for “SOS Aid” that was necessitated after another racer exhibited signs of heat exhaustion while the race was stopped to attend to the emergency.

Sims cited difficulty in the resulting bottleneck that occurred at RM 102. “This course was brutal,” he said in a post-race interview. “By far the most brutal I’ve ever raced.”

After a devastating loss at the Supersport 300 World Championship in May that saw Sims and his Polaris RZR encounter significant rollover impact damage, he walked away uninjured vowing to rebuild his vehicle in time for the Baja 500, marking his first race since the accident.

Sims, who raced without a co-driver for his team, is a two-time champion for both the Baja 500 and Baja 1000. The next race in the series, the 3rd Annual Score Baja 400 is set to take place Sept. 13 to 18, 2022.

Score International has not released a follow up to Sims’s request at this time. We will continue to update this situation as news breaks.

UPDATE 6/7, 12:00 PM: In an interview with The Dirt Life Show, Sims stated Score International is addressing the credit issue and may issue a credit to all affected riders. Official statement from Score yet to come.

Team navigator, Skyler Howell added, “There are a lot of other classes it affected as well … There was like 50, 60 cars in that bottleneck and once all of them get a time credit, it’s probably going to affect more podiums than just the UTV class.”

[Final update 6/9: SCORE Addresses Baja 500 Official Results Controversy, Time Credits Awarded]

Cover: Branden Sims (left) takes the #2 position after #1 Austin Weiland with Team Can-Am | credit: Polaris Offroad

Will Burgess is a journalist with Adrenaline Powersports Mag