Team Murray Racing / Del Amo Motorsports / Yoshimura / Can-Am made history as it won the UTV Pro class at the 2013 BITD Vegas to Reno race in Nevada. The Can-Am Maverick 1000R X rs team completed the 540-plus mile course in 12:05:22.689 to earn its first class win of 2013.

“It was an incredible weekend for Can-Am in the Nevada desert. Despite a grueling 500 mile-plus course, drivers Derek and Jason Murray, their teammates and the Can-Am Maverick 1000R outlasted the Nevada desert to earn Can-Am its first-ever Vegas To Reno victory,” said Jimmie O’Dell, Race Manager, Can-Am. “Considering the fact that the Murray’s are essentially using a stock engine and are competing against fully built race engines, this makes the win even more spectacular for both Can-Am and the Murray team.”

Round four of the 2013 BITD series was held in the rough-and-rocky Nevada desert, and featured the popular-and-challenging Vegas To Reno event, which is dubbed the longest off-road race in the United States.

Coming into the event, the Murray Racing / Del Amo Motorsports / Yoshimura / Can-Am team was sitting in second place in the UTV Pro class (1900 P) standings, 22 points behind the leader. However, after the dust had settled, the Murray / Can-Am team had won its first BITD Vegas To Reno event. And, the team also had turned its points deficit into a four-point advantage heading into the next round.

“Winning this race was one of our biggest accomplishments due to the length of the race and that our Can-Am Maverick was awesome, with no performance issues. This was a fun race to win, as we were running within minutes of our main competitors for most of the entire race.” said Derek Murray. “It’s really cool that we could win with a stock engine along with stock differentials and CVs. To be the only UTV team in the race that beat all the 120- to130-mph trophy trucks to the finish line was a huge accomplishment, something that our team is very proud of.”

The Murray’s Maverick took off first from the starting line and the team wasted no time spreading the gap over the competition. It owned around a 10-minute advantage at the 100-mile mark, according to team co-owner Derek Murray.

At midpoint of the race, three teams were battling for the overall lead. Those teams actually swapped the lead a few times during the 380- to 415-mile sections, said Murray. The race for the lead picked up from there, as the Murray team swapped positions with two other teams that were vyying for the lead.

After the 415-mile mark, though, the Maverick had dropped off the lead pace when the race hit the high-speed sections. However, the Murray squad kept a steady pace and remained patient, waiting for its opportunity to regain the lead. The Murray / Can-Am team took over after the leader dropped out due to a mechanical and went on to win its first BITD race of 2013 and the first Vegas To Reno event for Can-Am.

The Murray / Can-Am team (Derek and Jason Murray, Bill Kugel and Monty Aldrich) impressively finished 32nd out of 76 motorcycles, ATVs and side-by-sides competing in its racing category.

The No. 1917 Can-Am Maverick was also the only side-by-side to finish ahead of the high-speed, Unlimited four-wheel vehicles and trophy trucks that started the race roughly three hours after the side-by-sides. Murray says it was just the second time in BITD history that a SxS has finished ahead of the unlimited vehicles.

Two other Can-Am Maverick vehicles completed the Vegas To Reno event. Michael Lansky’s Avid Racing team finished sixth overall, and Cory Sappington (Dezert Toyz) ended up ninth. The next BITD series race is October 11-13, the BlueWater Challenge, in Parker, Ariz.

For more information on Can-Am racing, the 2013 schedule, the ’13 contingency program and Can-Am DS 450 ATV amateur racer support program, visit www.can-amxteam.com.

Polaris Industries Inc. (NYSE: PII) today announced the hire of Tim Larson to the newly created position of Vice President, Global Customer Excellence. He will begin work with the Company in this role immediately.

“Striving for customer excellence in all that we do is vital to Polaris’ efforts to continue growing and leading our markets, and we are excited to have Tim joining us to spearhead this effort,” said Polaris Chairman and CEO Scott Wine. “For nearly 60 years we have developed world-class products. To drive continued growth, we must take this solid foundation to the next level by creating a unique and identifiable world-class customer experience. Tim brings an extensive professional background perfectly suited to the demands of this new role.”

With the growth of digital technology, the retail environment is more dynamic than ever before. Leading companies must stay ahead of customers’ rapidly changing expectations.

For Polaris, this means delivering excellence at each customer touch point, across its current global dealer network, business units, channels and technology, as well as evaluating strategic expansion of distribution channels and customer base.

To address that need, Polaris created this new leadership position directly accountable for those intersections to deliver a truly differentiated customer experience. Larson will have overall responsibility for creating that experience, working collaboratively across the organization and network.

Larson brings more than 20 years of experience developing customer-centric industry leaders in consumer product, manufacturing, technology and multi-channel businesses.

For the past five years Tim served as President and Chief Executive Officer at Jostens, Inc. His strong background in general management, sales, marketing, digital campaigns and developing multi-channel capabilities closely aligns with this new role.

Polaris has a strong existing foundation, one from which the Company intends to grow through collaboration between Larson, Polaris dealers and leaders from across the organization, including North American and International sales, service, business units, digital channels.

Ultimately, this team will develop a comprehensive win-win strategy for Polaris to become a customer-centric, global enterprise. This effort will initially focus on North America, but will grow to encompass Polaris’ entire global footprint.

Polaris is a recognized leader in the powersports industry with annual 2012 sales of $3.2 billion. Polaris designs, engineers, manufactures and markets innovative, high quality off-road vehicles, including all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and the Polaris RANGER and RZR side-by-side vehicles, snowmobiles, motorcycles and small vehicles. Polaris is among the global sales leaders for both snowmobiles and off-road vehicles and has established a presence in the heavyweight cruiser and touring motorcycle market with the Victory and Indian motorcycle brands. Additionally, Polaris continues to invest in the global on-road small vehicle industry with Global Electric Motorcars (GEM), Goupil Industrie SA, Aixam Mega S.A.S., and internally developed vehicles. Polaris enhances the riding experience with a complete line of Polaris and KLIM branded apparel and Polaris accessories and parts. Polaris Industries Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PII, and the Company is included in the S&P Mid-Cap 400 stock price index.