Photo: Harley-Davidson
This past weekend brought yet another exciting race in the King of the Baggers series, with a doubleheader taking place at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. For all intents and purposes, it would have been an exciting race like all the others in this competition, but an achievement by Harley-Davidson Factory Racing's rider Kyle Wyman sent the race right into the history books.
Wyman set out to compete against his adversaries like he usually does, on the back of a 2024 Road Glide motorcycle that has been specifically prepared for the rigors of the bagger racing competition.
The rider is presently at the top of the series' standings, and everyone expected him to do his best on the Texas circuit as well. And he did, as at the end of the two races Wyman ended up on the second and first places, respectively. But it's what he did between the start and finish that's even more impressive.
Both King of the Bagger races took place in a six-lap format, with the win of the first run landing in the hands of Indian Motorcycle Troy Herfoss, who spectacularly took the lead coming from all the way back in sixth place.
The second race, however, saw Wyman best Herfoss, and helping him do that was in no small part the record run he achieved during the last lap of the race. As we went to pass his rival, the Harley-Davidson rider landed what is, according to Harley-Davidson, a near-perfect lap, concluded in just 2:14.8 minutes. That's a lap record for this class at Circuit of the Americas and helped Wyman cross the finish line just 0.677 seconds ahead of Herfoss.
This year's King of the Baggers series is the largest in the rather short history of the competition. There are a total of 18 rounds planned for this year, and the racers burned through four of them already.
The standings so far have Wyman in the lead with a total of 96 points, and Herfoss trailing him at a rather large distance, with just 85 points. Wyman's partner in crime in the King of the Baggers, James Rispoli, comes in third in the overall rankings.
The people riding baggers for the win will now move to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, where the next race in the series takes place the coming weekend (19 – 21 April). The series ends in September at the New Jersey Motorsports Park.
The rules of the King of the Baggers competition are simple. The bikes that can enter are either Harleys or Indians (making this a sort of exclusive, two-make series), properly equipped with hard side bags and fairings. The total weight of the bike must not be over 620 pounds (281 kg).
The rider is presently at the top of the series' standings, and everyone expected him to do his best on the Texas circuit as well. And he did, as at the end of the two races Wyman ended up on the second and first places, respectively. But it's what he did between the start and finish that's even more impressive.
Both King of the Bagger races took place in a six-lap format, with the win of the first run landing in the hands of Indian Motorcycle Troy Herfoss, who spectacularly took the lead coming from all the way back in sixth place.
The second race, however, saw Wyman best Herfoss, and helping him do that was in no small part the record run he achieved during the last lap of the race. As we went to pass his rival, the Harley-Davidson rider landed what is, according to Harley-Davidson, a near-perfect lap, concluded in just 2:14.8 minutes. That's a lap record for this class at Circuit of the Americas and helped Wyman cross the finish line just 0.677 seconds ahead of Herfoss.
This year's King of the Baggers series is the largest in the rather short history of the competition. There are a total of 18 rounds planned for this year, and the racers burned through four of them already.
The standings so far have Wyman in the lead with a total of 96 points, and Herfoss trailing him at a rather large distance, with just 85 points. Wyman's partner in crime in the King of the Baggers, James Rispoli, comes in third in the overall rankings.
The people riding baggers for the win will now move to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, where the next race in the series takes place the coming weekend (19 – 21 April). The series ends in September at the New Jersey Motorsports Park.
The rules of the King of the Baggers competition are simple. The bikes that can enter are either Harleys or Indians (making this a sort of exclusive, two-make series), properly equipped with hard side bags and fairings. The total weight of the bike must not be over 620 pounds (281 kg).
Google News