The roar of large capacity V-Twins, the sight of a group of Baggers lining up in formation, these are the sights and sounds you’d normally experience during Daytona Bike Week and at Sturgis. But this was the MotoAmerica Superbike Speedfest weekend at the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, host to a one-off 8-lap spectacle of heavy metal as the inaugural Drag Specialties ‘King of the Baggers’ grid lined up to attack one of the World’s most challenging race circuits. With two Indian Challengers qualifying first and second, the race was on to be crowned ‘King of the Baggers’.

When Roland Sands, whose first AMA 250 GP win was at the circuit, heard about the idea of racing Baggers around Laguna Seca, his first reaction was “Why?” And who can blame him? The legendary American circuit in California is a highly technical 2.2-mile track with very short straights and off camber corners where hard braking, ground clearance and exit speed are the keys to a quick lap. And that’s before we even get to the iconic Corkscrew, a combination of a cresting blind left that immediately plunges down an 18-metre drop into a right turn. Many a race has been decided with incredible overtakes, or mistakes, at the Corkscrew.

Originally, the ‘King of the Baggers’ concept was to race more for fun and to put on a show. But when you get racers and race teams involved, things heat up pretty quickly. If it’s a race, they want to win! And soon all the teams were modifying their rides to reduce weight, ground clearance and improve braking and cornering performance. Indian Motorcycle worked with both S&S Cycle and Roland Sands Design setting out to win using the ultimate performance Bagger, the Indian Challenger.

As the flag dropped, Frankie Garcia on the Rolands Sands Design Challenger had a great start taking the holeshot from second on the grid into turn one. But the pole sitter, Tyler O’Hara on the S&S Cycle Challenger, had been running incredible lap times all weekend, and by turn two he had sliced to the front and immediately extended his lead as Frankie Garcia fended off Hayden Gilliim, the first HD in the rest of the field… 

Read on or enjoy the video of the race highlights first.

By the end of lap one, the top three riders had a huge lead on the rest of the field. Slipping back to third and despite the pain in his legs from a practice start mishap, Garcia held onto the rear tyre of Gillim. As the cameras focussed on the battle for second, O’Hara went deep into turn two losing the front and spearing off into the sand on lap four. Using his dirt bike experience to stay upright, O’Hara rejoined in third just behind Garcia.

With speeds and lean angles no one expected, even backing the bikes into the turns, the top three were now way ahead as some bikes started to retire. O’Hara took a lap to check the bike over but was soon lapping two-tenths faster than the leader Gillim, overtaking Garcia on lap five. As his pace increased, O’Hara soon bridged the gap to Gillim, a famously difficult racer to pass who made O’Hara work for it despite his faster pace.

For the next two laps, O’Hara stuck to the back of Gillim, pushing and looking for a mistake that would give him the opportunity to overtake, even trying outside lines. Then in lap seven came the overtake that no one thought they would see a Bagger perform, a late braking sliding inside line into the blind apex of the Corkscrew. With a flick right to guard the next apex, O’Hara’s Challenger made the overtake stick and he turned up the heat to extend the lead as the white flag dropped for the last lap. 

As he crossed the line to take the very first Drag Specialties ‘King of the Bagger’ chequered flag, O’Hara had built a 1.9 second lead over Gillim with Garcia coming in third. The bike in fourth was a full 46.5 seconds behind O’Hara.

With celebration wheelies - another sight you don’t normally see from Baggers - the numbers came in. O’Hara had set a fastest lap of 1:36.211 and a top speed of 127mph, very impressive at the short straights of Laguna Seca.

In Victory Lane, the 32-year-old Californian thanked his family, the S&S Cycle team, sponsors and all the organisers for making the race possible as well as sending a message to the fans who couldn’t be at the circuit with the current restrictions in place.

“That was amazing. Thank you MotoAmerica and Drag Specialties for giving us this opportunity to come out here to showcase this beautiful bike and to all the fans we wish you were out here, we miss you, we love you.”

When asked about his off track excursion Tyler joked, “We didn’t want to make it that entertaining! We had a moment going into turn two, we were pushing a little harder in the race than we had all weekend and it was just a touch too much. Thankfully, we kept it on two wheels and were able to get back in the fight and take it down a notch to reel Hayden in.”

For Frankie Garcia it was an emotional podium and he dedicated his ride to his brother, “This is the first race I've been to since my brother recently passed away three months ago and we're out here doing it for him today. I wanted to go round this track for him today and that’s what we did.”

“Yesterday we had a little bit of a mishap and I was hurting pretty bad after that.” Garcia had looped his Challenger doing a practice start from the pit. “Last night I set my alarm for every hour to make sure I got up and stretched my thighs. Laguna Seca is my home track and I’ve never got to race here. So, racing here today was a big goal of mine and making that happen was huge and you know there’s been so many people behind this whole program, they’ve all done so much I knew I had to be here today and do everything I possibly can to make sure I raced today.”

Later in the press conference, when asked about the possibility of a three race opportunity in 2021, Garcia said “I’m in.”

Click here watch the full post race press conference.

Want to know what it takes to build a race-winning S&S Cycle machine?

Bike: 2020 Indian Challenger

Engine:

Stock bore Indian 108" PowerPlus
Stage 2 cams
CNC ported heads
K&N air filter
S&S engine covers
One-off stainless race exhaust
Full Spectrum Battery
Chain drive conversion

Chassis:
Custom tuned Fox shock
FTR1200 forks on S&S machined triple clamps
Brembo Calipers
Custom aluminum fuel cell
PM billet wheels on S&S built hubs

Body & Cockpit:
Air Tech Carbon Fiber bags, fenders & tank cover
Saddleman Seat 
Custom made S&S rear sets
Klockwerks Bars