2022 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship
Round 6 – Speedfest At Monterey
Images by Brian J Nelson
Mission King Of The Baggers had one race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca over the weekend, and MotoAmerica’s Big Twin pilots brought plenty of excitement to the track. It was an especially good day for Harley-Davidson teams, who swept the podium.
Defending class champion Kyle Wyman got the win aboard his H-D Screamin’ Eagle Road Glide Special and closed the gap to current championship leader Tyler O’Hara, who started from the pole but ultimately finished fourth.
Kyle Wyman’s brother Travis Wyman finished second, a little more than three seconds behind Kyle. Vance & Hines Racing’s James Rispoli brought his Harley home third.
Kyle Wyman
“O’Hara was visibly struggling with the rear. I knew as the tire went off, that wasn’t going to get any better. He was going at a good enough pace where I felt like I wasn’t really in danger of getting passed from behind. I was kind of content to sit there and let something happen. On the second or third lap, he lost the rear pretty big out of nine coming down Rainey (Curve). Opened up the door for me to get under him in ten. From there, I think I put a 29.4 down and then I saw 1.3 on the board. So, put a couple more low 30s, maybe a high 29 after that, and just kind of managed the gap. Travis was right. The gap came down a little bit, like two or three tenths at one point. So, I just kind of stayed consistent and focused. It was really greasy out there. I was actually really cautious with how the edge grip was. Just happy I could get clear and kind of run my own race and get another one-two (for our team), and a one-two-three for Harley.”
Tyler O’Hara was the top Indian mounted rider, 1.5s faster than Jeremy McWilliams, with Bobby Fong in sixth. Completing the top 10 was Taylor Knapp, Frankie Garcia, Danny Eslick and Andrew Lee.
A single-point now separates O’Hara and the Wymans in the standings, with Kyle and Travis on 86-points, to Tyler’s 87. Jeremy McWilliams is fourth on 78-points, ahead of James Rispoli.
King of the Baggers Race Results
| Pos | Rider | Make | Diff |
| 1 | Kyle Wyman | H-D | 12:07.429 |
| 2 | Travis Wyman | H-D | +3.063 |
| 3 | James Rispoli | H-D | +5.644 |
| 4 | Tyler O’Hara | IND | +6.099 |
| 5 | Jeremy McWilliams | IND | +7.584 |
| 6 | Bobby Fong | IND | +7.592 |
| 7 | Taylor Knapp | H-D | +8.325 |
| 8 | Frankie Garcia | IND | +42.094 |
| 9 | Danny Eslick | H-D | +44.930 |
| 10 | Andrew Lee | H-D | +45.406 |
| 11 | Patricia Fernandez | IND | +1:21.081 |
| 12 | Zack Nation | H-D | +1 Lap |
| 13 | Eric Stahl | H-D | +1 Lap |
| Not Classified | |||
| DNF | Hawk Mazzotta | IND | DNF |
| DNF | Michael Barnes | H-D | DNF |
| DNF | Cory West | IND | DNF |
| DNF | Michael Vital | H-D | DNF |
King of the Baggers Points Standings
| Pos | Rider | Total |
| 1 | Tyler O’Hara | 87 |
| 2 | Kyle Wyman | 86 |
| 3 | Travis Wyman | 86 |
| 4 | Jeremy McWilliams | 78 |
| 5 | James Rispoli | 59 |
| 6 | Taylor Knapp | 52 |
| 7 | Bobby Fong | 35 |
| 8 | Andrew Lee | 35 |
| 9 | Frankie Garcia | 30 |
| 10 | Patricia Fernandez | 22 |
| 11 | Cory West | 18 |
| 12 | Zack Nation | 15 |
| 13 | Eric Stahl | 11 |
| 14 | Shane Narbonne | 10 |
| 15 | Hawk Mazzotta | 9 |
| 16 | Ben Carlson | 8 |
| 17 | Bryan Shields | 8 |
| 18 | Danny Eslick | 7 |
| 19 | Scott Beal | 7 |
| 20 | Robert Johnson | 5 |
