The King Of The Baggers roared into Daytona International Speedway to kick off the racing season, with Harley-Davidson battling Indian Motorcycle for supremacy in the American V-Twin class in the MotoAmerica series, with top speeds exceeding 180 mph.
The factory teams were busy in the off-season, each signing up a third rider to add to their rosters. H-D recruited Brit racer Bradley Smith to pilot a Road Glide alongside Kyle Wyman and James Rispoli after earning podium results in MotoGP and Moto2.
Harley-Davidson’s 2025 King Of The Baggers Team Announced
Over at Indian, international roadracer Loris Baz joined 2024 champ Troy Herfoss and two-time champ Tyler O’Hara. Indian is supporting two satellite teams in 2025: Cameron Petersen is racing the SDI Racing Indian Challenger, and Kyle Ohnsorg returns to compete on the TAB Performance Racing Challenger.
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Adding more competition to the field are Cory West and Jake Lewis, who return to the Saddlemen Race Development squad piloting H-D Road Glides.
Saddlemen Race Development Team Announced
Despite the influx of new competition, no one could outrace Kyle Wyman at Daytona. The 2021 KOTB champ earned pole position with a new lap record and then scored his fourth and fifth consecutive race wins at the speedway, giving H-D the championship lead.
Race 1 (Friday)
Friday’s 8-lap race was shaping up to be a barnburner, with Wyman getting the holeshot and sprinting to the lead ahead of reigning champ Herfoss, who qualified in 2nd place. Sadly, Indian’s Loris Baz, who qualified an excellent 3rd, was taken out by Rispoli when they collided in Turn 1, with the French rider getting banged up and suffering a gash to his right arm that required six stiches to close.
As the laps wore on, Wyman led over a chasing Herfoss, who clocked a 186-mph trap speed on Daytona’s banking. A little further back was a battle for 3rd place between Bradley Smith and Tyler O’Hara.
The race to the checkers was thwarted when Herfoss crashed his Indian Challenger while trying to keep pace with Wyman. Indian’s woes continued when O’Hara suffered electronic issues that dropped him out of contention, vaulting Petersen into 3rd place close behind Smith. Petersen squeezed past Smith on the last lap but was overtaken on the final run to the checkered flag. Wyman cruised to an easy win.
Mission King Of The Baggers Race 1 Results
- Kyle Wyman (H-D) Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Race Team
- Bradley Smith (H-D) Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Race Team
- Cameron Petersen (Indian) SDI Racing
- Kyle Ohnsorg (Indian) TAB Performance Racing
- Jake Lewis (H-D) Saddlemen Racing Performance
- Tyler O’Hara (Indian) S&S/Indian Motorcycle
- Rocco Landers (H-D) RevZilla/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson
- Troy Herfoss (Indian) S&S/Indian Motorcycle
Race 2
After suffering front tire degradation issues on Friday, the Indian teams decided to use a Japanese-spec Dunlop front tire for Saturday’s race, a supposed “no-growth” tire that was expected to be more durable than the standard Dunlop front tire used by the Harley teams. All bikes were relegated to using the same rear tire.
Wyman again led the 13-rider field through Turn 1, but Herfoss made a bold outside move into the International Horseshoe right-hander to romp past his Harley rival. The Indian rider’s time at the front ended when he was overtaken by Wyman entering the chicane, but Herfoss romped back into the lead by the time they crossed the finish line to start the second lap. Behind the leading duo were Rispoli, Smith, Baz, and O’Hara.
Smith’s run in the leading group ended when he lowsided in Turn 1 on the second lap, promoting Baz into 4th behind Rispoli. Herfoss and Wyman continued to swap the lead at various points in the race, while Rispoli took himself out of contention with a mild lowside crash on Lap 4.
Heading into the final lap, Herfoss held a narrow edge over Wyman, with Baz about 1 second behind. Herfoss backed off while exiting the International Horseshoe to allow Wyman into the lead, but Wyman slowed so he could remain behind to take advantage of the Indian’s slipstream on the banking.
The games continued when Herfoss stood up his bike while entering the first banking section, allowing Wyman into the lead. The Harley rider was through playing games and put his head down for a strong run to the checkers. It looked like Herfoss might be able to pull the old draft-and-pass move before the checkered flag, but he came up 0.056 second short of victory.
“It was such a game out there today,” said Wyman after Saturday’s win, his 20th in the series. “I love racing here at Daytona, and there’s no better place to be than victory lane. The Harley-Davidson Dynojet team put a really fast Road Glide under me, and I had the power it took to win twice.”
Class newcomer Baz overcame his injuries to round out Saturday’s podium, followed by O’Hara and Rocco Landers.
After two of 14 rounds in the 2025 MotoAmerica Mission King Of The Baggers series, Wyman has a perfect score of 50 points. Herfoss has 28 points, and Smith sits in 3rd with 26. The series resumes action May 2-4 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia.
Mission King Of The Baggers Race 2 Results
- Kyle Wyman (H-D) Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Race Team
- Troy Herfoss (Indian) S&S/Indian Motorcycle
- Loris Baz (Indian) S&S/Indian Motorcycle
- Tyler O’Hara (Indian) S&S/Indian Motorcycle
- Rocco Landers (H-D) RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson
- Hayden Gillim (H-D) RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson
- Kyle Ohnsorg (Indian) TAB Performance Racing
- Jake Lewis (H-D) Saddlemen Racing Performance
- Cory West (H-D) Saddlemen Racing Performance
- Bradley Smith (H-D) Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Race Team
Mission Super Hooligan National Championship
The Super Hooligan class is the most diverse in the MotoAmerica series. The Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 won last year’s championship in the hands of Cory West, and the Harley riders have a clearer path to another championship after Indian announced the cease of production of its FTR1200 and that it will no longer field a factory team.
Harley riders dominated racing at Daytona, taking all six podium spots in the two opening races of the 2025 Mission Super Hooligan National Championship, which is presented by Roland Sands Designs and “powered by” Harley-Davidson.
The Saddlemen Racing Performance team earned wins at Daytona for riders Cory West and Jake Lewis, each scoring narrow race wins. Saddlemen teammate Travis Wyman finished 2nd in both races by a combined total of only 0.081-second! KWR rider James Rispoli finished 3rd in Race 1.
Some Hollywood luster was added at Daytona with the introduction of a new bike from Arch Motorcycles, the company cofounded by superstar actor Keanu Reeves. The Arch 2S is intended for production next year, and its racing prototype made its debut at Daytona. It’s powered by a bespoke air/oil-cooled V-Twin engine co-developed with Suter Racing, which brings the most cubes to the class – nearly 2 liters (120ci) of displacement – and about 150 hp.
The 2S suffered teething problems in qualifying and in the first race, but rider Corey Alexander finished a creditable 7th in Race 2. Arch hopes to add a second bike midway through the season that will be piloted by veteran roadracer Jeremy McWilliams, who was assisting in the pits at Daytona.
After two of 10 races in the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship, West leads with 41 points, followed by Travis Wyman with 40 points, Lewis with 32 points, Rispoli with 27 points, and Cody Wyman with 26 points.
Mission Super Hooligan Race 1 Results
- Cory West (H-D) Saddlemen Racing Performance
- Travis Wyman (H-D) Saddlemen Racing Performance
- James Rispoli (H-D) KWR Harley-Davidson
- Cody Wyman (H-D) KWR Harley-Davidson
- Jason Waters (Triumph) Edge Racing
- Hawk Mazzotta (Yamaha) Strack Racing
- Hayden Schultz (H-D) KWR Harley-Davidson
- Andy DiBrino (Triumph) Competition Werkes Racing
- Jake Lewis (H-D) Saddlemen Racing Performance
- Josh Baird (Triumph) 210 SpeedLab Racing
Mission Super Hooligan Race 2 Results
- Jake Lewis (H-D) Saddlemen Racing Performance
- Travis Wyman (H-D) Saddlemen Racing Performance
- Cory West (H-D) Saddlemen Racing Performance
- Cody Wyman (H-D) KWR Harley-Davidson
- James Rispoli (H-D) KWR Harley-Davidson
- Dominic Doyle (Yamaha) Giaccmoto Yamaha Racing
- Corey Alexander (Arch) ARCH Racing
- Hayden Schultz (H-D) KWR Harley-Davidson
- Andy DiBrino (Triumph) Competition Werkes Racing
- Hawk Mazzotta (Yamaha) Strack Racing
