Rispoli & Wyman share Daytona King of the Baggers wins

2023 MotoAmerica Superbikes – Daytona 200

Images by by Brian J. Nelson

James Rispoli had to share the King of the Baggers wins at the Daytona 200 with Kyle Wyman, wrapping up the initial race with Hayden Gillim just 0.089s behind, Wyman the clear Race 2 winner, 8s clear of Rispoli.

Mission King Of The Baggers Race 1

Seemingly everyone had some sort of issue to deal with in the opening round of the Mission King Of The Baggers series at Daytona International Speedway, but Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson’s James Rispoli dealt with his better than the rest to take his first career victory in the class.

Rispoli was running second and giving chase to early leader Kyle Wyman when he made the save of his life and somehow stayed on board his Road Glide despite a seemingly endless and viscous tank slapper on the high banks. Once he got that under control, he was keeping the pressure on Wyman when the H-D Screamin’ Eagle Road Glide expired with five laps to go.

From there it was a battle to the finish with Rispoli and his teammate Hayden Gillim joined by the second factory Harley of Travis Wyman. The two Vance & Hines riders then got a scare when Travis Wyman’s Road Glide suffered a mechanical failure on the banking. The fear of oil on the banking brought out the red flag and Rispoli had his first win in the bag with Gillim second.

Defending Mission King Of The Baggers Champion Tyler O’Hara finished third on his Indian Motorcycle/Progressive/Mission Foods Indian Challenger despite having to start from the back row when the team failed to get him and his teammate Jeremy McWilliams out of pit lane in time for the sighting lap.

The first of the Team Saddlemen Harley was ridden to fourth place by Cory West, who finished 13.1 seconds off the lead and well clear of McWilliams, who was just 1.4 seconds ahead of Baggers rookie and former Superbike racer Jake Lewis.

In addition to the two factory Harleys, Bobby Fong was another knocked out of the race with mechanical problems on his Sac Mile/SDI Racing/Roland Sands/Indian Challenger.

James Rispoli

“I saw my life flash twice and then it just kept going. I was like, ‘maybe I’ll get out of it.’ It just kept going all the way up the banking. I don’t know, man. I summoned all the energy from my ancestors to keep that one going straight. But at the end of the day, to be honest, it was a really fun race. Once we saw Tyler (O’Hara) and Jeremy (McWilliams) not on there (the grid), the game plan is always to race hard but a little different because the Harleys react the same way. So, me and Hayden (Gillim) were just clicking off laps, passing each other in good spots. I think we figured out where he was strong, where I was strong, and we just made it work. To be honest, it’s a shame to see both factory Harleys go out, but I kind of feel like we were tracking them down a little bit in some areas. Maybe he was just blowing up. I don’t know. I feel like me and Hayden did a phenomenal job of just working together. You got to do that here at Daytona. Then me and Hayden started making quite a bit of mistakes out there, running wide and stuff. I was just hoping nobody else would catch up. I saw some people coming. Travis (Wyman) got in there with us, and he had a little bit of a moment. Thankfully, he’s super solid and got right off the line. But I’m just stoked. Vance & Hines have worked their butts off this off-season. We go out in FP1 and if we’re slow a mile an hour, it’s all forgotten, and it can’t be. These guys work so hard. We’re in the fight. Yeah, we might not have the mile an hour, but we lasted, and we got one and two. It’s the first King Of The Baggers (round). I’m super proud of my team and my teammate. We’ll just keep going. Terry (Vance) – just get the red numbers out because we’re looking at the red plate, baby.”

Mission King Of The Baggers Race 1 Results

Mission King Of The Baggers Race 2

H-D Screamin’ Eagle’s Kyle Wyman made up for the disappointment of failing to finish the first of two Mission King Of The Baggers races on Friday with a dominating eight-second victory on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.

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Wyman’s factory Harley-Davidson Road Glide coasted to a stop in Friday’s first Baggers race, forcing the 2021 King Of The Baggers Champion to watch Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson’s James Rispoli score his first career victory in the opening round of the championship.

And everyone paid the price for his disappointment as Wyman went on a tear on Saturday, leading every lap of the eight-lap race to beat Rispoli by 8.030 seconds. Third place went to Rispoli’s teammate Hayden Gillim, a day after Gillim finished second. Team Saddlemen’s Cory West finished fourth with his teammate Jake Lewis rounding out the top five.

Defending Mission King Of The Baggers Champion Tyler O’Hara had an off-day with the Indian Motorcycle/Progressive/Mission Foods-backed Californian running off in turn one and ending the race in 11th. O’Hara’s teammate Jeremy McWilliams was also off the pace, finishing 11th after just losing out in a battle with Roland Sands Design/Indian Motorcycle’s Kyle Ohnsorg.

Kyle Wyman

“Definitely anger, a little bit of frustration because I just know how good the bike is when it’s all there like we developed it. To have it kind of end like that yesterday was frustrating for sure. What can I say? The boys have done their homework over this winter. Obviously, we have a pretty strong package. We’re still not the fastest bike in a straight line, which was interesting. But we are in a really good spot for the rest of the season. I don’t know exactly where the points shake out. James (Rispoli) filled both his bags full of points. I only filled the one side, so we’ll have to see kind of where it’s at. I’m super happy to finish the weekend on a high note because then it feels like a good weekend.”

Mission King Of The Baggers Race 2