Continuing a run of dominance that has now spanned multiple years and sanctioning bodies, Phil Blurton scored his second straight win to open the 2022 Best in the Desert season in Saturday’s UTV Legends Championship race from Laughlin. Coming off a victory in the season-opening Parker 250 last month, the No Limit RD Can-Am driver completed 10 laps of the 17-mile course in 3:18:30.533, more than six and a half minutes faster than closest Turbo Pro challenger Joe Terrana in second. Chase de Sousa Diaz completed the class podium at 51 seconds behind Terrana.

They were joined in the final race of the day by the NA Pro teams, where defending series champion Josh Row paced the field for his second consecutive podium finish and first win of the year. He was joined on the class podium by Max Eddy, who improved on an eighth place finish in Parker as the only other lead-lap finisher in the division. It was a youth movement behind them for the final podium spot, as 13-year-old Cash Shaleen edged out 15-year-old Ethan Groom by just 34 seconds for the honors.

Preceding the battle for the Turbo and NA Pro divisions, the second race saw the Trophy Unlimited, Super Stock, and Sportsman classes do battle, and the advantage to a less-used course was that the overall winner of that race actually posted the fastest time of the weekend. Chris Blais’ winning time of 3:18:11.441 in Trophy Unlimited topped all UTV race times in Laughlin by 19 seconds, beating Brayden Baker by nearly three minutes and Jamie Campbell by more than nine. Mitchell Alsup scored his second straight Super Stock victory over Chase Carr and Connor Maxwell, while Eric Maxwell’s margin of victory over Jason George was nearly 20 minutes in the Sportsman class.

Under the race’s Grand Prix finish rules, just six of the 34 Turbo Pro entries completed all 10 laps of the action in the third race. In the second race, the Trophy Unlimited racers paced the field, but only five of 22 managed to run all 10 laps, while four of 13 did in Super Stock. The top NA Pro and Sportsman teams won their respective races with nine laps completed apiece.

Read more: Blurton Back on Top in Best in the Desert UTV Legends Championship

Much as I love off-roading, I’ve never really been a fan of side-by-sides. You know, those little souped-up, golf-cart-dune-buggy-like things you see zipping around the desert and sailing off into the dunes. The truth is, my hate is a product of jealousy; right off the showroom floor, a side-by-side is faster and more capable than any off-road rig I could build myself. But a recent day with the Can-Am Maverick helped me see the light.

Actually, it was two days, and for the first, I only rode shotgun. Can-Am let me tag along with professional UTV driver Hunter Miller as he prepared for the infamous King of the Hammers race in Johnson Valley, California — a week-long event where every kind of off-road vehicle you can imagine gets its turn in the spotlight.

With 16 inches of ground clearance, up to 24 inches of suspension travel, a short wheelbase, 200 horsepower and low gearing, UTVs like the Maverick are nimble and pretty much unstoppable. Miller’s race rig wears 35-inch tires, meaning it has no problem climbing up over rocks that are legitimately taller than I am. Miller’s race line choice is precise, putting the Can-Am on two wheels more than once, and often pointing us straight up at the sky, straight down at the ground or sideways to the point where rocks are 3 inches from my helmeted head. This is some next-level capability.

We aren’t doing this slowly, either. In a Jeep, a course like this would take hours. But in the Can-Am, we make it through Johnson Valley’s Sledgehammer and Jackhammer trails in about 15 minutes. Miller goes around a few more times to try some other racing lines, doing his homework for the big UTV race a few days later.

Speaking of which, when the race was all said and done, Can-Am swept the podium, with Miller coming in second. His brother, Cody Miller, didn’t make the podium but earned an eighth-place finish in the Unlimited series, where his side-by-side was up against big trucks with 40-inch tires, V8 engines and ridiculous amounts of torque. He was the first UTV to finish that grueling race.

Soon after the race, it’s my turn to drive the Can-Am. The Maverick X3 has 16 different trim levels, but I’m in the X3 X RC Turbo RR, which is Can-Am-speak for a UTV that’s built for rock crawling. Buyers can also opt for trims that are specifically built for the desert, mud or dunes, with 64- or 72-inch widths and a choice of two or four seats. My two-seat tester is exactly like the one Miller used during the race practice, just without all the safety equipment and with smaller, 33-inch tires.

Read more: 2022 Can-Am UTV Goes Anywhere You Want

Rock crawling a UTV has become very popular. Some argue that a UTV is not designed to crawl, others say UTVs can crawl better and easier than full-size rigs in the rocks. Realistically, these machines can be modified to do just about anything well—if you have the right aftermarket parts.

First thing you’ll want to do is upgrade to a larger tire, 33s and 35s have become the most popular in a crawler type UTV build. However, there is a lot more to running an oversized tire than bolting it on. So what do you need?

Oversized Tires Require Other Parts Upgrades
Usually, most people address strength concerns first. Larger tires will put increased stress on axles, ball joints, and other suspension components. Steering especially can see some unwanted failure with larger tires. Binding up your machine in the big rocks with big tires is not something you want to do with OEM parts. Check out our UTV axle article to learn more about upgrading that part of your rig.

A larger tire will effect performance more than you might think—performance of your machine will suffer without addressing the additional rotating mass. Gearing and clutch performance will make a night and day difference in spinning out and breaking parts, or efficiently putting the power to the ground and crawling over rock obstacles.

Regear or Clutch Upgrade?
Gearing for a Polaris XP1000, XP Turbo, or Pro XP, or Turbo S machine is almost a requirement when going larger than 32” tires in the rocks. However, Canam machines seem to be much happier turning big tires in low range. There are many ways to modify the Polaris transmission gearing using a combination of OEM gears out of the Ranger, Ace, and other Polaris machines to a lower ratio to help performance. That is an entire article in itself though. For now, one of the easier than more common modifications for larger tires is clutching.

Read more: ROCK CRAWLING IN A RZR: HOW TO CLUTCH YOUR UTV FOR OVERSIZED TIRES

Can-Am recently invited select media to experience the company’s hardcore Maverick and trail-ready Defender side-by-sides at Iron Mountain Resort, an off-road motorsport park near Dahlonega, Geogia. A torrential downpour of rain failed to dampen spirits and provided me with an opportunity to experience UTV performance in slippery terrain far different than higher-speed desert running in the desert of Southern California.

The storm churned Georgia’s famous red clay into a froth of deep puddles and muddy chunks, perfect for spraying gunk and grit over everyone and everything in the woods. But the dirty day also provided Can-Am with a chance to show off the fun factor that helped the entire SxS industry blow up in recent years.

I first climbed into a Maverick X3 Max X RS Turbo RR. The hilariously long name indicates all the maxed-out features in the four-door, which I chose purposefully to provide a bit more of a steady wheelbase amid the muddy slipping and sliding. The Turbo RR also compares and contrasts perfectly as market competition with the RZR Pro XP 4 I drove for four months last year.

In the high-spec ‘RR’ Mavericks, Can-Am uses a turbocharged Rotax ACE three-cylinder engine displacing 900cc and cranking out 200 horsepower to a CVT automatic transmission. Critical measurements for my four-door include a 1,924-pound dry weight, a 72-inch-wide wheel track, and a set of four Maxxis Carnivore 32-inch tires.

Read more: Deep Mudding In The New Can-Am Maverick X3 Max X RS Turbo RR