MotoAmerica 2024
Mid-Ohio
King of the Baggers Race One
The Mission King Of The Baggers Championship is a uniquely American series that pits Indian Motorcycle and Harley-Davidson – two storied and iconic U.S.-based motorcycle manufacturers – against each other. It is a fierce rivalry that is very real between both manufacturers, the teams, and the riders.
S&S/Indian Motorcycle’s Troy Herfoss and Harley-Davidson Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman are cordial enough to each other, but when the visors go down and the lights go out on the starting grid, the two riders will fight with everything they have to beat each other.
In Saturday’s King Of The Baggers race one at Mid-Ohio, Wyman and Herfoss battled it out in a nine-lap shootout that saw Herfoss take the checkered flag by just a little more than a second over Wyman after Wyman made a strong challenge for the lead, but Herfoss was able to overtake Wyman again and make it stick.
Finishing third and another second adrift of Wyman was RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson’s Rocco Landers, who got the better of his teammate Hayden Gillim to round out the podium.
“That was our best (race win) yet,” Herfoss said. “We’ve been second fiddle this weekend and the last few rounds to Kyle (Wyman). It felt real nice to be able to get out and lead the race at my own pace. He always has a go. So, he shot down underneath me, and I got back in front of him. Thank you to everyone that’s involved. S&S Cycle, Dunlop, Progressive Insurance. There’s so many great people helping us. Let’s give them another one tomorrow.”
King of the Baggers Race One
- Troy Herfoss – Indian
- Kyle Wyman – HD +1.040s
- Rocco Landers – HD +1.962s
- Hayden Gillim – HD +3.331s
- James Rispoli – HD +4.556s
- Tyler O’Hara – Indian +12.771s
- Jake Lewis – HD +20.152s
- Larry Pegam – Indian +24.563s
- Cory West – HD +27.279s
- Max Flinders – Indian +31.293s
King of the Baggers Race Two
What was shaping up to be another fight to the finish between Harley-Davidson Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman and S&S/Indian Motorcycle’s Troy Herfoss didn’t get the chance to materialise as Hayden Gillim crashed his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson on the third lap in Sunday’s race, bringing out the red flag and ultimately the end of the race.
Since he was leading Herfoss when the red flag came out, Wyman was declared the winner, giving him his sixth win of the season and the five points back that he’d lost to Herfoss on Saturday. This was a bit of a blow to Herfoss as the Australian looked to have the speed to overhaul Wyman and trim the Harley rider’s championship lead.
RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson’s Rocco Landers finished third for the second time on the weekend as the series rookie continues to get closer to the top two.
Wyman leads Herfoss by 14-points with only four races left in the season.
“It’s a strange feeling,” Wyman said. “I thought we were coming into the pits to rerack them. So, I didn’t really notice until everybody was running off of pit lane, up the hill with stands, that we had actually called the race. I was actually surprised as well. I thought we were going to restart that one. It didn’t seem like there was any more threat of weather at that point. It seemed like a pretty quick cleanup. But, my plan that I executed turned out to be what put me in that position. I wanted to get the holeshot. I wanted to control the race and try to go from the front. I’ve had a lot of really bad days over the last couple years with just really sh*t luck in a lot of different scenarios. So it feels like I’ve been owed one a little bit. Not by Troy, but just from the universe, I guess. It feels good in that way, but when we’ve gone down to the last lap and raced to the flag, even when I’ve finished second when we’ve raced to the flag it feels better than this does just because it’s a hell of a lot of fun. So, for sure, it’s a bummer not to see it go full race distance, especially for the fans. But like I said, we’ll take it.”
King of the Baggers Race Two Results
- Kyle Wyman – HD
- Troy Herfoss – Indian +0.280s
- Rocco Landers – HD +1.515s
- James Rispoli – HD +3.868s
- Tyler O’Hara – Indian +4.618s
- Jake Lewis – HD +14.036s
- Travis Wyman – HD +14.330s
- Larry Pegram – Indian +16.277s
- Cory West – HD +16.558s
- Max Flinders – Indian +16.677s
King of the Baggers Championship Points
- Kyle Wyman 282
- Troy Herfoss 268
- Hayden Gillim 189
- Tyler O’Hara 182
- James Rispoli 154
- Rocco Landers 138
- Max Flinders 111
- Jake Lewis 103
- Cory West 95
- Travis Wyman 72
Super Hooligans Race One
It was also a doubleheader Sunday for the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship class with Saturday’s race getting bumped off the schedule with poor weather wreaking havoc.
When they did get started in the first of two races, Saddlemen Racing/Harley-Davidson’s Jake Lewis turned what looked to be an exciting Mission Super Hooligan National Championship race at Mid-Ohio into a dull one when he pulled away from the scrap behind him to win his second race of the season on Sunday morning.
Lewis topped his team-mate Cory West by 1.2 seconds after separating himself from the pack in the closing stages with West beating KWR/Harley-Davidson’s Hayden Schultz by just .057 of a second.
Then came the pair of S&S/Indian Motorcycle’s with Tyler O’Hara fourth and Troy Herfoss fifth, respectively. Herfoss was slowed somewhat by a clutch issue.
“It’s honestly been an up-and-down weekend on the Hooligan bike so far, but every session I’ve been out in, I’ve been either first or second,” Lewis said after race one. “So, I knew I had a good feeling, but starting ninth was tough. I think I was fifth coming out of turn one, and then (Chris) Fillmore looked like he had a little bit of an issue. I was up into fourth quick. Cory (West) and I talked before the race. I know the Indian boys are going to try to play their games. So, I figured I’d fire one off on the first lap under (Tyler) O’Hara there. Kind of stood him up and then after that, I was like, ‘this is mine to lose, as far as championship-wise.’ I have to win these races, and that’s my only goal is either win or I’m going to end up in the grass. I rode my ass off, but big thank you to the Saddlemen Race Development team. They’ve been working so hard on these Harley-Davidson Pan Americas. It’s a nice way to reward them. I’m excited for that one. Sometimes winning I don’t get too excited, but I was really pumped for that. It’s been 10 years since we’ve been here. Last time we were here I won as well. It feels good to do it in front of these Mid-Ohio fans.”
Super Hooligans Race One Top Ten
- Jake Lewis – HD
- Cory West – HD +1.238s
- Hayden Schultz – HD +1.295s
- Tyler O’Hara – Indian +4.116s
- Troy Herfoss – Indian +5.589s
- Cody Wyman – HD +7.560s
- Dominic Doyle – Yamaha +7.745s
- Stefano Mesa – Energica +10.752s
- Hawk Mazzotta – Indian +17.019s
- Kole king – Triumph +28.011s
Super Hooligans Race Two
If race one turned into a runaway in Hooligan terms, race two was anything but with six riders in the lead group all the way to the finish. And what a difference another race makes as race-one winner Lewis was at the back of that lead group in sixth place.
This one went to new championship points leader West after his two-one finishes on the day. West beat O’Hara, his main championship rival, by .105 of a second. Third place on the track went to KTM Development Team’s Chris Fillmore, but Fillmore was here on a KTM DUKE Prototype and not eligible for championship points. That gave third to Herfoss with KWR/Harley-Davidson’s Hayden Schultz and West’s team-mate Travis Wyman rounding out the top five.
“How crazy?” West said after race two. “That first race, I was pretty nervous going into it. So, I just rode smart. I didn’t want to make any mistakes and do anything silly. I told my guys, ‘I’ve got a little more in me.’ I just didn’t want to do anything silly in that first race. So, I put my head down, got to the front, and it was just a scrap. Those guys kept coming by me and doing crazy stuff. I just was trying to be cool and be smart. Then on the last lap, TO (O’Hara) came up under me in the Keyhole and I just made sure I got a really good drive. I just had three guys in front of me to give me an awesome draft. I got down there on the brakes and kind of lost the front in the right-hander. I was like, ‘man, I just got a few more right-handers until the checkered.’ I kind of parked it in that last corner, but I just figured there wasn’t any way around me. Today is my dad’s birthday. This is awesome. Happy birthday to my pop. All the guys at Saddlemen, my wife, who’s pregnant. It’s crazy. We’re making it happen. We’re leading the points again and we’re on to COTA. Let’s make it happen.”
Super Hooligans Race Two Top Ten
- Cory West – HD
- Tyler O’Hara – Indian +0.105s
- Troy Herfoss – Indian +1.014s
- Hayden Schultz – HD +1.050s
- Travis Wyman – HD +1.285s
- Jake Lewis – HD +1.404s
- Cody Wyman – HD +10.199s
- Dominic Doyle – Yamaha +10.481s
- Stefano Mesa – Energica +11.107s
- Hawk Mazzotta – Indian +31.340s
Super Hooligans Championship Standings
- Cory West 147
- Tyler O’Hara 143
- Jake Lewis 113
- Cody Wyman 105
- Troy Herfoss 98
- Hayden Schultz 94
- Hawk Mazzotta 69
- Travis Wyman 60
- Stefano Mesa 44
- Jordan Eubanks 37
