Harley-Davidson Wins Big at MotoAmerica Daytona Doubleheader

MotoAmerica’s Mission King of the Baggers and Mission SuperHooligans road racing weekend was definitely action-packed at the doubleheader season opener at Daytona International Speedway.

Kyle Wyman, from Team Harley-Davidson Factory Racing won the season opener with a Daytona double, winning the first two MotoAmerica Mission King of the Baggers races of the 2024 season at Daytona International Speedway. S&S/Indian factory rider, and newcomer to MotoAmerica—and the United States in general—Troy Herfoss, impressed the those in attendance with a Second place finish in both KOTB races and was very competitive as a newcomer to the bagger and hooligan series. Wyman’s Factory Harley teammate, James Rispoli, finished in third place in both races. Wyman and Rispoli were aboard the team’s new race-prepared 2024 Road Glide motorcycles.

The first King of the Baggers race on Friday saw a thundering pack of 17 bagger race motorcycles topping 185 mph on the high-banked oval portion of the 3.52-mile Daytona International Speedway road course. Wyman and Rispoli were part of a four-bike group that battled for the lead for the entire race and started the last of six laps separated by less than one second. Wyman had been quick through the back straight chicane all race and on the last lap got a strong drive out of the final corner to pass Factory Indian rider Troy Herfoss for the lead heading onto the last section of the oval. Wyman had enough momentum to hold off Herfoss and Rispoli across the finish line with a 0.018 second advantage over Herfoss and 0.137 second over Rispoli. Defending King of the Baggers series champion Hayden Gillim finished fourth on the RevZilla/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Road Glide, 0.837 seconds behind Wyman.

“On that last lap we were just about parked, but I refused to pass to lead the race until the moment it counted,” said Wyman. “I saw a window coming out of the chicane and was just able to hold them off for the win.”

The second King of the Baggers race on Saturday saw Wyman, Rispoli, Herfoss, Gillim, and S&S/Indian rider Tyler O’Hara break away from the pack early in the race and swap positions on each lap. On the final lap, Herfoss gapped Wyman on the back stretch but braked late and over-shot the entry to the chicane, giving Wyman an opportunity to pounce. Wyman again got a strong drive onto the last section of the high-bank oval and was able to out-run Herfoss to the finish by 0.137 seconds. Rispoli finished 1.518 seconds back in third place.

“I was in survival mode on the last lap,” said Wyman. “I lost my quick–shifter and I was going to be happy to finish second, but Herfoss gave me a chance and we made it work. Hats off to my entire Harley-Davidson crew for all their hard work this weekend.”

“What an unreal weekend,” said Rispoli. “There was so much nervousness before the races. So, it was a massive relief to get two podiums in my first weekend with the Factory Harley-Davidson team. I am so stoked for the entire team, and I know we will be a force for the future rounds.”  

After two of 18 rounds in the 2024 MotoAmerica Mission King of the Baggers series Kyle Wyman leads with 50 points. Herfoss is second with 40 points, followed by Rispoli with 32 points and Gillim with 24 points.

In the SuperHooligans (SHNC) series, Saddlemen/Harley-Davidson’s Cory West came close to getting revenge for his DQ from last year’s SHNC third-place finish in race one. West’s Harley-Davidson Pan America rocketed him to his first-ever victory while leading a Harley sweep of the podium. It was not only his first Super Hooligan win but his first win of any kind in the MotoAmerica Championship.

West came out the best of a six-rider scrap at the front and it came down to the usual Daytona drafting war. That war went to West by a scant .020 of a second over his Saddlemen/Harley-Davidson teammate Jake Lewis and .060 of a second ahead of Kyle Wyman Racing Harley-Davidson’s Cody Wyman.

Then came the two S&S/Indian Motorcycle FTR1200 who finished first and second in Friday’s race one – Tyler O’Hara and Troy Herfoss – with the third Saddlemen Harley right behind. The top six crossed the finish line separated by just .155 of a second.

Those six were in a class by themselves with Roland Sands Design’s Hawk Mazzotta the best of the rest and 16.4 seconds behind.

“Yesterday was such a scramble that today I kind of got to just play the game,” West said. “Started decent, but just kind of got swamped at the beginning and found myself back in fifth or sixth or something. I just knew I needed to just hold the draft and hang out for a little bit, let a few laps wind down. I think the board was saying three laps to go when I finally got a really good draft, and I came around the outside of everybody going into turn one. It’s a move that I’ve done a long time ago in the 200 on 600s, and it still works. It got me up to the front and then I was just kind of trying to chill in the infield. If I was ahead of the Indians, I knew that it would be good to just kind of slow the pace down in the infield because they were good there. A couple guys drafted me as the race went on, but Cody (Wyman) was just making a push at the front. I knew that we kind of had to keep tabs on him, because he just looked like he wanted to go. So, coming into the last lap, he was leading. I was running second. I followed him through the infield, but I wanted to try to keep a gap between me and him so that I could get that run if I got the draft. If I was too close, I’d pull up beside him and then we would just do this drag race, side by side, looking at each other like, ‘Well, didn’t plan that out very good.’ So, that last lap, drafting him down into the chicane, I knew I didn’t want to lead it. I’ve done that too many times. His brother, Travis (Wyman), he came by me on the brakes. I’m like, ‘well, if one draft is good, maybe two drafts is even better.’ So, I just really tried to hit the brakes and square the chicane up and get a really good drive out of there. Made sure I hit all my shifts perfect and got a good draft off of Travis. As Cody started dropping down the bank, I was getting a little side draft off of Travis. I was like, “Man, I don’t know if this is going to work.’ Then just perfect timing. Cody kind of started drifting up. It just left Travis with no draft, and it gave me the perfect draft. I was just, ‘Come on, baby. Come on, baby. Come on, baby. Bring it to the stripe.’

Harley-Davidson Factory Racing returns to action at the Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas, April 12-13 at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.

The Mission King of the Baggers series features race-prepared American V-Twin touring motorcycles. Harley-Davidson Factory Racing Road Glide  motorcycles are powered by modified Screamin’ Eagle Milwaukee-Eight 131 Performance Crate Engines. The team bikes also feature upgraded suspension components, including Screamin‘ Eagle/Öhlins Remote Reservoir Rear Shocks, plus competition exhaust, race tires and lightweight bodywork.

Harley-Davidson Factory Racing is sponsored by Mission Foods, Rockford Fosgate, Öhlins, Protolabs, SYN3 lubricants, and Screamin’ Eagle Performance Parts and Accessories.

MotoAmerica King of the Baggers Race Results – Daytona International Speedway Race 1