RWD Racing has designed a new Kawasaki UTV that the team’s scion Carson Wernimont will race in Friday’s Mint 400 Limited Race.

“We’ve spent countless hours working on this new Kawasaki race car and are ready to line up at the Mint 400,” said Wernimont. “This race has so much history and it would be awesome to stand on the podium here. We’ve tested in our development and now we are ready for the ultimate test of racing.”

The UTV is part of Project H2, described by Kawasaki as a “top-secret development project”. Speculation about the project have surmised that it’s about building a supercharged engine akin to that on the Kawasaki Ninja H2 superbike.

Indeed, the RWD Racing Kawasaki has a 999cc in-line supercharged engine. Although Kawasaki already has race-ready UTVs like the Teryx KRX 1000, those do not come supercharged in base form like RWD’s. One could argue the new model is Kawasaki’s attempt to invest more into UTV racing and keep pace with those like the Can-Am Maverick R and Polaris RZR Pro R Factory.

Supercharged motors have been developed by Kawasaki Heavy Industries in partnership with its subsidiaries like Kawasaki Powersports, Gas Turbine & Machinery, Aerospace Company, and Corporate Technology Divisions.

RWD, short for Russ Wernimont Designs, has been a Kawasaki affiliate since 2021.

“Kawasaki has given us a great platform to build off of as we tackle the incredible challenge of competing in the UTV Pro Open class,” added RWD head Russ Wernimont. “Our team has built this race car from the ground up and the support from Kawasaki has been amazing. We are really looking forward to helping Kawasaki with its engine development and have fun chasing race wins.”

Wernimont will be driving the new UTV in the Limited Race on Friday.

Featured image credit: RWD Racing / Kawasaki