HANGING-ON

Brock Heger Stays Ahead To A Pro UTV Open Championship

By Larry Saavedra / action photo by GetSomePhoto

It’s been less than a year since Brock Heger signed with the SCI factory Polaris race team. Yet he’s already proven his worth by walking away with the 2023 Pro UTV Open Championship. “This championship with the team in my first year of UTV racing is something I’ll never forget,” Heger said. “It means a lot to me.” And rightfully so. Heger had a rough start to the season that could have been disastrous had he not had the talent to reel it back in. 

36th SCORE San Felipe 250

“San Felipe was my worst finish,” he said. “It was my first race in a UTV, and I didn’t know what to expect. There were issues early on in the race, and by the time I recovered, it was too late.”  With a 10th-place finish at the SCORE San Felipe 250, Heger knew he had to settle down before the next race of the season. 

55th SCORE Baja 500

“I had everything dialed for the SCORE Baja 500, and charged hard there,” he said. He commanded the field in his RZR Pro R racing unchallenged, to secure the Pro UTV Overall and Pro UTV Open class victories.

4th SCORE Baja 400

Fresh off dominating the podium at the SCORE Baja 500 Heger was running on all cylinders again at the SCORE Baja 400.  “ I was able to do a lot more testing before the race and it showed with a solid finish,” he said.

“The time I had with the team before the race made a huge difference. I had one flat (my fault), but it was the most competitive race for me to date. Everyone was pushing their cars hard with lots of battles, and being able to pass Branden Sims about 50 miles from the finish was gratifying. It was my favorite race.”

56th SCORE Baja 1000

Heger was the first UTV off the line and drove it to mile-marker 580. “I was feeling great, but had an issue at mile-marker 200,” he said. 

After regaining his composure, he was able to keep the Polaris near the front of the pack before passing it to his teammate. “We ended up gaining on the leaders and putting it into second-place on the course behind Cayden MacCachren,” he said. “Unfortunately we had a mishap and that dropped us down to third behind the leader going into the finish.”

“We had some conversations on the course about just settling in, and not trying to overtake the leader,” he said. “I wanted the championship and I knew it was our title to lose.”

With a respectable third-place finish Heger secured the championship and his place in the annals of SCORE racing. SJ