It was a wild and sometimes wet weekend of Mission King Of The Baggers racing at Wisconsin’s Road America circuit last weekend. Located north of Harley-Davidson’s Milwaukee headquarters, the sprawling 4-mile racetrack in Elkhart Lake saw Harley and Indian trade wins in the double-header round.
In Friday qualifying, the Screamin’ Eagle Road Glide of Kyle Wyman set a new track record, posting a 2:19.1 lap time in dry conditions and outpacing the S&S Indian Challenger of Troy Herfoss to earn pole position. Indian’s Tyler O’Hara filled out the front row of the grid.
Herfoss, an Australian Superbike champion but a rookie in King Of The Baggers, won the Mission Foods Challenge and its $5,000 prize. The Aussie translated that race-winning pace into Saturday’s feature race, which was held under steady rain and on a treacherously slippery track.
Herfoss got a quick start off the line and jumped out to an early lead. Next up was Rispoli, who was doing his best to stay ahead of H-D teammate Wyman, but it came to grief for the racer nicknamed Hogspoli when, on the fourth lap, his bike began skidding in the approach to Turn 1, causing him to crash.
Meanwhile, Herfoss was able to stretch out a substantial lead on the pack behind, cruising to a comfortable win. Wyman finished in the runner-up spot, followed by O’Hara and Jake Lewis on the Team Saddlemen Road Glide.
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The setting for Sunday’s race was completely different, held under overcast skies on a dry track. In attendance was the legendary Willie G. Davidson, who was hoping to see a Harley-Davidson take a victory.
It was a Harley that led off the starting line, with Vance & Hines H-D’s Hayden Gillim launching into the early lead while Wyman, Rispoli, and Herfoss were in hot pursuit. Wyman barged his way past Gillim on the third lap, and Herfoss quickly followed suit, demoting the reigning champ to 3rd place. Rispoli also was able to get past Gillim.
Wyman and Herfoss opened a gap on Rispoli and Gillim and had a ding-dong battle all the way to the checkered flag, On the fourth lap of five, the Aussie outbraked Wyman entering Turn 1 to take the lead. On the final lap entering Canada Corner (Turn 12), Wyman got past his rival, but Herfoss retaliated and regained the lead in Turn 14, the final corner of the lap.
From there, it was a dragrace up the long uphill straight to the finish line. Wyman tucked in behind Herfoss and twisted the throttle to edge up on the Indian and draft past to take victory by only 0.04 second. O’Hara finished 3rd, just 0.05 second ahead of Rispoli, followed by Gillim.
“What a great battle we had out there today,” said Wyman after his victory. “The team considered this a must-win race, and we got it done. I love a one-on-one race, and there were spots on the track where we both had the pace. It came down to sheer willpower and horsepower at the end.”
It was Wyman’s fourth victory of the season and seventh podium finish in eight races. Despite that remarkable consistency, Herfoss has been even more consistent, nabbing four wins and four 2nd-place finishes.
“This is the most fun I’ve had in my racing career, and I love this rivalry,” Wyman enthused. “It’s really special to get a win at Road America, so close to Harley headquarters in Milwaukee, and with Willie G. Davidson and so many Harley employees and fans at the track. Let’s keep it going!”
After eight of 18 rounds, Herfoss sits 9 points in front of Wyman’s 171 points, followed by O’Hara at 111 points. Rispoli sits in 4th with 92 points.
“I’m so thankful I was able to walk away unhurt from that crash on Saturday and keep building on the momentum we have going,” said Rispoli. “I was feeling super inspired today with the Davidsons here. It was an absolute scrap in the race today, and I left everything on the track. I’m proud of Kyle and this team for putting H-D on the top step.”
The KOTB series returns to action June 14-16 at Brainerd International Speedway in Brainerd, Minnesota, during the MotoAmerica Superbikes at Minnesota event.
MotoAmerica King Of The Baggers Race Results – Road America Race 1
- Troy Herfoss (Ind) S&S/Indian Motorcycle
- Kyle Wyman (H-D) Harley-Davidson Factory Racing
- Tyler O’Hara (Ind) S&S/Indian Motorcycle
- Jake Lewis (H-D) Saddlemen/Harley-Davidson
- Cory West (H-D) Saddlemen/Harley-Davidson
- Max Flinders (Ind) Mad Monkey Motorsports
- Bobby Fong (Ind) SDI/Roland Sands Racing
- Rocco Landers (H-D) RevZilla/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson
MotoAmerica King Of The Baggers Race Results – Road America Race 2
- Kyle Wyman (H-D) Harley-Davidson Factory Racing
- Troy Herfoss (Ind) S&S/Indian Motorcycle
- Tyler O’Hara (Ind) S&S/Indian Motorcycle
- James Rispoli (H-D) Harley-Davidson Factory Racing
- Hayden Gillim (H-D) RevZilla/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson
- Max Flinders (Ind) Mad Monkey Motorsports
- Cory West (H-D) Saddleman/Harley-Davidson
- Jake Lewis (H-D) Saddlemen/Harley-Davidson
- Travis Wyman (H-D) Saddlemen/Harley-Davidson
