Polaris RS1 Racer Taking Over Short Course Tracks

AS SEEN IN OUR MARCH/APRIL 2026 ISSUE – Buy Now!

A Girl with the Will to Win

When you look across motorsports, no matter if it’s asphalt, concrete, track, circuit, IMSA, F1, NASCAR, or even legendary off-road races like the Baja 1000 and Mint 400, you find yourself surrounded by guys of all ages and sponsors run primarily by men. Even in an outnumbered crowd, there are still women to be found who have the same burning desire to show up and show out against the guys. This story is about Ms. Stephanie Warapius, a Prescott, Arizona local turned Southern California track star in the dirt. She is a competitor who refuses to quit, and when the worst happens, she gets her hands dirty to get her 2019 RS1 back on the track to do what she does best—dominate!

Personally, covering Stephanie has always been a crazy experience, from watching her kick it backwards into corners to seeing her roll her car into a barrier to watching her smash about every part there is to break. She has yet to wave the white flag and continues to fight against some of the top names in Youth 1000 and Production NA UTV all around, including drivers such as Wyatt Cotter and Mikey Childress Jr. Does it stop her that these guys in the sport compete with her? Not at all! She continues to race and charge hard at every corner from start to finish. With that brief background out of the way, let’s hop into the RS1 she’s rocking around the short course scene.

Stephanie is whipping a 2019 Polaris RS1 with interior tin work done by FS Productions, and the exterior is wrapped in custom vinyl by AVIWraps. The flashy pink, black, and grey custom graphics feature all of her sponsors on the side of the wrap. Turning the tires and producing the horsepower of this Polaris is a twin-cylinder 1000cc motor that has been upgraded with CM1 headers and is tuned by Sneeky Tuned SXS out of San Jacinto, California. Sneeky really knows these cars and motors, and there aren’t many out there that can produce a tune like this man can. This RS1 is still running the stock 2019 transmission, but that is A-Ok! It was refreshed by Cross Motorsports out of Jurupa, California, making sure when the stick gets pushed that it goes into gear and takes that horsepower and puts it out! This unit is also rocking a matching set of RCV driveshafts with Rhino 2.0 front and rear axles!

These RS1s came from the factory pretty kitted out, and that’s why Stephanie is rocking the stock brakes and master cylinder. Looking around, you can find a stock RS1 frame with gussets and frame mods done by The Baja Shop and FS Productions that create a stiff and safe chassis all around for all occasions. Kneeling down, you can find that Steph is running a set of Walker Evans shocks in both the front and rear, refreshed by MTS. Coiled around those Walker Evans shocks is a set of Eibach springs with their combination of weight to give this ride a smooth and competitive edge all around. Steering this rocketship around the Glen Helen and Firebird tracks, you can find a Shock Therapy steering box with a stock front stabilizer and a unit from 2 Bros in the rear. Spinning and digging in that fine dirt is a set of GBC Terra Master tires wrapped around KMC Grenade beadlocks.

Jumping onto the pilot seat, you can see you are sitting on a PRP Delta seat in red and black coloring and are secured by PRP harnesses. There’s even a PRP steering wheel that offers amazing grip at all times. Some other factors you can see all around are the custom aluminum dash and switch panels, window nets, Rugged Radios pumper, and aluminum firewall to stay safe from any of the liquids and heat in the engine bay area. Now that we have covered the front to back of this fine ride, let’s talk about a few of the places and races that this whip has been in its life span.

Starting off, we can show you where these photos were taken—at the glorious Glen Helen short course while Stephanie was out dominating and racing the Bonfire Short Course Racing Series. But it doesn’t just stop there: She has also raced Best in the Desert, AZOP, CORR, and the Dirt Series and will be diving into the Outlaw Series for 2026.

Stephanie is no stranger to going hard on the track, but sometimes problems do occur. When asked what issues she ran into on the track, Steph responded with, “Wrecks and part failures happen quite often in short course racing.” Keeping calm and collected is the best method of achieving success. One of my favorite key features of Steph’s RS1, and something that Stephanie noted, is that when you get passed by her, not only do you get passed, but now you have to stare at the back of her car that features a sticker that reads, “You just got passed by a girl.” I love that. A little taunting is always fun during competition, and we think Steph was a perfect match to what we wanted to bring here to TREAD. Introducing the UTV Short Course life into this magazine was important to us and should be of interest to our action-loving readers!

Boys, if you’re reading this, Steph is a tough competitor. She is a menace on the track and will hit you if you get in her way. I’ll be there to capture it, too, and you’ll be added to her list of guys she has beat! We thank Stephanie for taking the time to get back to us and to keep shredding on the track. We wish her luck and will be watching her progress throughout 2026. We hope to see bigger and badder racecars in Steph’s future for us to feature! But until then, tread on!