King of the Baggers and Super Hooligan recap from Road Atlanta

King of the Baggers 2025

Road Atlanta, Georgia

Images by Brian J Nelson

It had been almost two months since Kyle Wyman rode his Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing Road Glide to victory in both Mission King Of The Baggers races in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway back in March, and the 2021 class champion took that momentum to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta over the weekend.

For Wyman, the two wins in the Daytona opener were his fourth and fifth in a row at the Speedway, and his perfect weekend of racing had him leading the championship by a comfortable 22 points heading into Georgia.

S&S/Indian Motorcycle’s defending Mission King Of The Baggers Champion Troy Herfoss was second in the title chase heading into round two after an up-and-down Daytona – literally. In race one, Herfoss was attempting to claw into Wyman’s lead when the Australian crashed in turn six with five laps to go. Fortunately, Herfoss was able to remount, finish eighth, and take the eight points that may prove valuable when points are added up at the end of the season.

In race two, Herfoss and Wyman battled for the win, with Wyman and his Harley-Davidson coming out of the spat victorious, albeit by just .056 of a second over Herfoss and his Indian.

Bradley Smith wasted little time in taking his maiden step on a MotoAmerica podium, as the Brit took advantage of Herfoss’ miscue in race one to place second behind his Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing teammate Wyman.

In race two, however, Smith also had his first MotoAmerica crash. Like Herfoss the day prior, Smith was able to remount, finishing 10th to put him third in the championship with Florida in his rearview mirror.

Herfoss’ teammate Tyler O’Hara was a consistent sixth and fifth in the two races, putting him fourth heading to round two, and privateer Kyle Ohnsorg left Daytona fifth in the championship with fourth- and seventh-place finishes on his TAB Performance Racing Indian Challenger.

What of the other big guns like class newcomer and the third of the factory S&S/Indian Motorcycle teamsters Loris Baz, RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson’s Hayden Gillim, factory Harley rider James Rispoli, Rocco Landers, and SDI Racing’s King Of The Baggers rookie Cameron Petersen?

Landers ended up the best of that group but was off the pace with his seventh- and fifth-place finishes. Still, that was better than his teammate Gillim, who was scoreless in race one and sixth in race two.

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Baz rebounded from a turn-one crash in race one to put his Indian Challenger on the podium in race two, finishing close behind Wyman and Herfoss.

Petersen, meanwhile, was third in race one but failed to score a point in race two. Saddlemen Race Development’s Jake Lewis finds himself seventh in the championship after Daytona with his fifth and eighth in the two races.

Rispoli’s Daytona was one for him to forget as he crashed out of both races and left Florida with zero points.

Road Atlanta Qualifying

Friday’s Q1 Mission King Of The Baggers session was red-flagged with some six minutes remaining due to oil being dropped on the racetrack in the 10A-10B chicane. When action resumed after the cleanup, it was Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman on provisional pole after edging S&S/Indian Motorcycle’s Loris Baz by a scant .012 of a second.

Wyman’s best lap was a 1:29.592, with Baz’s best a 1:29.604. Those two were the only in the class to circulate in the 1:29s.

Mission King Of The Baggers Champion Troy Herfoss completed the provisional front row in third, .597 of a second behind Wyman. The Australian led a horde of riders on the same second, led by TAB Performance Racing’s Kyle Ohnsorg in fourth.

The others on the same second were S&S/Indian Motorcycle’s Tyler O’Hara, Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing’s Bradley Smith, Saddlemen Race Development’s Jake Lewis, Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing’s James Rispoli, and the pair of RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidsons ridden by Hayden Gillim and Rocco Landers, who crashed out of the session when he hit the oiled portion of the racetrack.

Mission King Of The Baggers Challenge

Troy Herfoss then won the King of Baggers Challenge, holding off Kyle Wyman by 0.16s, with Loris Baz rounding out the top-three, ahead of the Harley mounted duo of Rispoli and Smith.

Mission King Of The Baggers Challenge Results

Mission King Of The Baggers Race One

It’s not often that someone can spot Kyle Wyman a lead in a Mission King Of The Baggers race and not only catch him but beat him. Frenchman Loris Baz, however, did just that on a rainy Saturday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in what was his first outing on his S&S/Indian Motorcycle-backed Indian Challenger in wet conditions, and just his third race in the class.

In winning his first Mission King Of The Baggers race, Baz became the 10th different racer to taste victory in the fifth year of the V-twin class.

Just when it appeared as though Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing’s Wyman had this one locked up, Baz started to push forward, moving into second after passing his teammate Troy Herfoss, and gaining ground quickly as the laps wore down.

Baz didn’t get to the back of the Harley until the very last lap, and he made it count, drafting past Wyman on the back straight, taking the lead into 10-A, and holding a tight line through the final set of corners to score the win by just .199 of a second.

Third place went to 2024 Mission King Of The Baggers Champion Herfoss, who admitted to just having a bad day. Herfoss was some three seconds adrift of Baz and Wyman and the Australian only just beat RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson’s Hayden Gillim by .126 of a second.

Herfoss’ teammate Tyler O’Hara was fifth, well clear of Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing’s Bradley Smith, TAB Performance Racing’s Kyle Ohnsorg, SDI Racing replacement rider Brandon Paasch, Saddlemen Racing’s Cory West, and Lyndall Brakes/M3’s Max Flinders rounded out the top 10.

After three races, Wyman leads the championship by 26 points over Herfoss, 70-44. Baz is now third in the title chase, three points adrift of Herfoss.

Loris Baz

“Well, it went from just trying to survive to seeing I was catching (gaining ground),” Baz said. “But at the same time, so many moments. I almost crashed 25 times in that race. I had big moments with the rear, but I feel like I was controlling the rear, playing with that limit. But my main concern was the front. On those three first laps before the race (a practice session), I had a really bad feeling on the front. I was not expecting to fight for the win in that race. But then we restarted, and I could see that everyone was a little bit struggling. Even if I had a lot of problems on the lean angle on the front, I kind of found some lines and I was able to just brake hard straight, not lean the bike too much, and change a little bit my lines. It took me a little bit of time to overtake Troy (Herfoss), because with that bad feeling and the moments I was having, I didn’t want to take him out. It was sketchy, but after two laps I saw that I was catching Kyle (Wyman) in a lot of places. So, I went from trying to secure second place to accepting the risk of trying to catch him. I knew that I was on the limit, but I think everyone was. I was pretty happy. I knew I had no chance to overtake him anywhere, unless on the straight into 10A. Then I had a big moment in the exit of 10B, but that was the third or fourth time in that race, so I was expecting that. I’m super happy. It doesn’t matter the class. When you never rode a bike in the wet and you go first time, it’s just a matter of how good your crew is to guess setup for you. So, big thanks to them. They did a great job to guess the right setup for me. Obviously, I’m much bigger than those guys, than Tyler (O’Hara) and Troy (Herfoss), so you can’t copy and paste the setup. I’m happy. I’m proud of what we are doing inside the team and all the people involved. It’s a massive challenge. First time riding a bike with no TC in the wet, it’s been 15 years. It’s something I love, but we have to remember how to do it. So, I’m happy.”

Mission King Of The Baggers Race One Results

Mission King Of The Baggers Race Two

Kyle Wyman is far and away the winningest rider in the short history of the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship, and the Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing rider added to his win list on a sunny Sunday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with victory number 21.

The win was also Wyman’s third out of the four races held thus far in 2025, with yesterday’s second-place finish the only blip in his season to date.

On Sunday, Wyman started from pole position but butchered a start in a way he wasn’t sure he’d ever done before. He apparently forgot to put the bike in gear and was fortunate to not have been run over.

Not so fortunate was TAB Performance Racing’s Kyle Ohnsorg, who crashed seconds later when his Indian Challenger locked up. From there it got ugly with RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson’s Rocco Landers couldn’t avoid the crashed Indian and he crashed as well. Wyman, meanwhile, also had to find a way through the carnage, and the race was quickly red flagged.

The second attempt at running the race was red flagged when Troy Herfoss’ Indian sent a smokescreen down the backstraight, leaving oil in its path and putting the Australian out of the race, a costly no score for the defending champion.

The third time was the charm, with Wyman getting the holeshot and never looking back. He was chased for the duration by Frenchman Loris Baz, who won Saturday’s race on his S&S/Indian Motorcycle Challenger. Baz kept Wyman honest throughout but came up 1.7 seconds short.

Brit Bradley Smith was third, earning the second podium finish of his four-race-old Baggers career. He was some six seconds behind Baz and just .090 of a second ahead of his Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing teammate James Rispoli, with RevZilla/Motul/Harley-Davidson’s Hayden Gillim a shadow fifth.

Kyle Wyman

“You’re supposed to put the bike in gear in order to start the race,” Wyman said. “I have to literally watch the video back, because there’s no way I just didn’t even try to. I must have gone for it and maybe it didn’t go, but it would be a first for me in my entire career. I’m just so happy and fortunate that it’s a small grid. You can’t have an issue like that on the grid, especially on the front row. I’ve seen some really, really terrifying incidents. Kyle Ohnsorg missed me, and I’m thankful for that. Then I had to miss him and Rocco (Sanders) coming up the hill in turn one when they skittled. That was a gnarly way to start the day. But it worked out in my favor. The first red flag was a definite gift for me. The second one I didn’t feel like was a gift at the time because I had a clear track. I really wanted to continue those seven laps. But we went back and put the bike in gear again, get another good start, and put my head down. Really happy with the pace. I think I saw a couple 29.2s throughout that. It feels good. It’s been a little while since I’ve had a win like this in the class. The end of last season was a little bit more of a struggle for me, even though we did win a couple. Daytona is Daytona but it kind of feels like Laguna or Ohio last year is really the last performance that I’m proud of. I’m happy with this one today. For sure good for the points championship. We’re in a really good spot. I don’t think I’ve ever had this big of a points lead in this class. Just keep our head down. Let’s keep working.”

Mission King Of The Baggers Race Two Results (Restarted)

Mission King Of The Baggers Points

Super Hooligan Race One

Saddlemen Race Development’s Jake Lewis managed to hold back his teammate Cory West through the final set of corners to win Saturday’s Mission Super Hooligan National Championship race at Road Atlanta. Margin of victory? Just .174 of a second in the red-flat interrupted and shortened five-lap race.

Lewis and West managed to get to the front and gap the field after the red flag that was brought about by ARCH Racing’s Corey Alexander, with the New Yorker crashing in the final corner.

Once they were free from the pack, the pair battled to the finish with Lewis doing most of the leading in the early laps. It was West, however, who ended up in front on the last lap. Teammate or no teammate, Lewis wasn’t in the mood for second place, and he made the move on West on the back straight on the final lap. Once he was in front, Lewis blocked any passing opportunity West might have had to take his second race of the three-race-old season.

With the win, Lewis moves to second in the title chase and trails West by four points, 61-57.

A lonely third place went to KWR Harley-Davidson’s Cody Wyman, who was almost five seconds behind the Lewis/West battle and seven seconds ahead of Giaccomoto Yamaha Racing’s Dominic Doyle. Doyle, meanwhile, was just .407 of a second ahead of fifth-placed Travis Wyman on the third Saddlemen Race Development Harley-Davidson Pan America.

Jake Lewis

“I don’t know if it was the right strategy or not,” Lewis said. “I did try to split. With two to go, it popped out of gear between five and six a couple times. I looked back and Cory (West) was right there, and then he drafted me into (turn) 10. I was like, ‘I don’t really know what to do, honestly.’ But I just sat behind him onto the long straightaway, because that was my only shot at going down into 10. I know we’re teammates, but that was a hell of a battle. Going down into there, I was like, I’m either going to make this stick or end up in the gravel trap. It was a little bit sketchy getting in there, but when I flipped it back right, I just hugged it real tight and tried to squirt out of there and then block him into the last turn, and it just worked out perfect. A big hats off to my whole Saddlemen Race Development team.”

Super Hooligan Race One Results

Super Hooligan Race Two

Saddlemen Race Development’s Jake Lewis looked over his shoulder on the second lap and no one was near, which is a rarity in the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship class.

Part of the reason for Lewis’ big early lead was a bit of melee in the turn 10 A/B chicane with defending series champion Cory West having a bike issue between the left and the right handers, and that led to a chain reaction that caused issues for James Rispoli and Hayden Schultz, who ended up crashing. Rispoli and his KWR Harley-Davidson would work their way back into a battle for second before bike issues knocked him out of the final results.

There was no catching Lewis after all the action in the chicane, as the Kentuckian maintained his cushion to score his second Hooligan race win of the weekend. Saturday’s win was by just .174 of a second over West, today’s win was a comfortable 4.5 seconds.

Second place went to KWR Harley-Davidson’s Cody Wyman, who was 3.9 seconds clear of his brother and teammate, Travis Wyman.

Edge Racing’s Jason Waters raced his Triumph 765RS to fourth with Giaccmoto Yamaha Racing’s Dominic Doyle rounding out the top five on his Yamaha MT-09 SP.

Jake Lewis

“Honestly it was kind of boring,” Lewis said. “All the Hooligan races so far this year have been so exciting to watch and been a last-lap scrap. I didn’t even hear anyone into 10 on the first lap. I looked back on the second lap and already saw I had a huge gap. Unfortunately, it looked like a couple of them went down. I think that’s what happens. I’ve been the pace setter all weekend. When I’m pushing the pace like that and they know I’m going to go like hell on the first lap, they’re trying like hell to stay with me. I’m just going to keep riding like I’m doing and just try to keep pushing the pace. I think now I’ll take over the points lead. It feels good. We’ll have a month and a half break before the Ridge. That’s one of my strongest tracks as well. A big thank you to the whole Saddlemen Race Development team. They’ve been working nonstop on this Pan America, and it’s showing. I’m riding at a good level. So, it’s going to be tough, I feel, for the competition to catch up. We’ve just got to keep our foot down.”

Super Hooligan Race Two Results

Super Hooligans Points

2025 King Of The Baggers Calendar

2025 MotoAmerica Super Hooligans Calendar