Hayden Gillim (1) battled with and beat Kyle Wyman (33) to win the Mission King Of The Baggers race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Sunday. Photo by Brian J. Nelson
Mission King Of The Baggers is a uniquely American race class pitting teams riding Harley-Davidson Road Glides against teams riding Indian Motorcycle Challengers. At WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, The Motor Company claimed full bragging rights by sweeping the podium in both of the weekend’s two feature races. Not only that, but the same three riders and same two teams finished in the top three on both days.
Sunday’s race two winner was defending Mission King Of The Baggers Champion Hayden Gillim who took the checkered flag aboard his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson. Gillim battled it out with polesitter and current points leader Kyle Wyman, who got the holeshot and led the first two laps until Gillim overtook him on lap three. Wyman retook the lead again on lap six, but Gillim once again got by Wyman and held the position to the finish line.
Gillim’s teammate and King Of The Baggers rookie Rocco Landers made another charge to the front like he did on Saturday. Starting back in seventh on the grid, he methodically passed riders as the laps wound down and overtook S&S/Indian Motorcycle’s Troy Herfoss on the final lap to complete the podium and notch a 1-3 finish for RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson.
“Whenever we get on any bike, it’s all or nothing,” said Gillim. “That’s why we’re on these things. That’s why we’re on the teams that we’re on. Nobody is coming out here to just show up. Everybody is coming out here to win. That’s how we are, too. That’s why not winning or not even being able to really fight for the win yesterday was so frustrating for me. Now we’re getting back to where we should have been at the beginning of the season. I’m able to actually fight and be there with these guys. It’s been challenging. We’ve had some ups and downs. It’s good. This is the first time I’ve had to fight for the win. I’m really happy about it. This is the first time I’ve had to battle and actually take a win from somebody. At Brainerd, I was feeling really good and was able to kind of get away. It’s nice to have those wins, but these are a lot of fun. I’m really happy. The whole team is just working their butts off trying everything they can possibly do on the off weekends. I’m really grateful to be here and to be able to ride multiple classes and to be at the front in most of the classes I’m in. It’s going really good. I got some sleep last night, so I’m a little happier today.”
Stock 1000 – Yates Gets His First
A happy Ashton Yates won his first career Stock 1000 race on Sunday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and the young Georgian definitely earned it with a near-perfect race on his Jones Honda CBR1000RR-R SP.
Yates grabbed the lead on the second lap from pole-sitter Jayson Uribe and his OrangeCat Racing BMW M 1000 RR and he led the rest of the race, though with constant pressure from Uribe. At the finish line it was Yates by .354 of a second over Uribe, who thought he had one more lap and was surprised by the checkered flag.
Real Steel Motorsports’ Hayden Gillim ended up third, despite dropping back as far as seventh after getting into turn two in second place on the opening lap. Gillim fought back, however, and worked his way up to third two laps from the end.
A close fourth for the second day in a row went to Motorsport Exotica’s Andrew Lee with the Californian having his best race weekend thus far in 2024.
Team Brazil’s Danilo Lewis rounded out the top five.
With just two races left to run in the series finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park, Gillim leads Uribe by seven points.
Supersport – Nearly Identical
Sunday’s Supersport race was a near carbon copy of Saturday’s race with PJ Jacobsen hounding Mathew Scholtz for nearly the duration only to find a way past the championship leader and win for the second straight day.
For the second straight day, Jacobsen’s pass for the victory came in a place not known for passing. On Saturday it was in turn six. On Sunday, it was in turn 10 on the final lap and it caught Scholtz by surprise as Jacobsen shot up the inside after a great drive out of Rainey Curve. By then it was over.
Jacobsen’s two wins pulled him closer to Scholtz in the championship with a gain of 10 points. He now trails Scholtz by 18 points.
For the second straight day, Blake Davis finished third on his N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto Yamaha YZF-R6. Rahal Ducati Moto’s Corey Alexander was fourth with Stefano Mesa finishing fifth on his Tytlers Cycle Racing Kawasaki ZX6R.
“This racing thing, when two riders have the pace and they’re so similar with each other, you got to find a lot of spots that that person, you can overtake them,” Jacobsen said. “So yesterday when I overtook him in turn six, I felt like that was a good pass and that was a weak point for him. I feel like when you sit behind somebody for so long, you end up studying them. You sit there and study, and study, and study. No offense to (Mathew) Scholtz, but last year he had a massive highside in that corner and he almost lost it again this year. So, I kind of knew that he was a bit weak there. Going over that rise, I just knew I had more pace sitting behind him and it was going to allow me to go into (turn) 10 with a more aggressive move. So, that’s what I ended up doing after studying like that. So, I’m not dumb. I feel like I made the pass in the right section that I had to, after watching him the whole race.
Mission Super Hooligan National Championship – West Dominates
The MotoAmerica Superbike Speedfest concluded with race two of the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship, and it was a fitting way to wrap up an exciting weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Super Hooligan is an eclectic race class with 10 different makes of motorcycles making up the grid. However, like the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship, Super Hooligan has evolved into an epic battle between Indian Motorcycle and Harley-Davidson.
On Sunday, it was The Motor Company that prevailed with Saddlemen/ Harley-Davidson rider Cory West getting the victory that eluded him in Saturday’s race. The win was a dominant one for West, who started from the pole and led every one of the eight laps to take the checkered flag.
The second step on the podium was occupied by West’s teammate Jake Lewis. For West and Lewis, they were joyous about giving their Saddlemen/Harley-Davidson team a one-two finish. Third place went to Saturday’s winner Tyler O’Hara, with the S&S/Indian Motorcycle rider coming into Laguna, and also leaving Laguna, with the points lead. “Yesterday getting second, that one stung, West said. “It was a little bit of a mistake on my part coming out of the front straightaway. We made a little change to the bike this morning that made it feel a lot better. This is my first time ever starting on pole position, and I just wanted to make the most of it. Put my head down, got a good start, and just had clear track and tried to get into a rhythm. I have a tendency to look back a lot, and I just told myself, just don’t look back. Hammered out a few laps. Looked at my lap timer once and saw 28.9 and was just like, ‘Hell yeah, let’s just keep this going.’ Was clicking off low 29’s consistent. Couldn’t help myself. About four or five laps in, I took a little peek back out of turn four and there was nobody there. I about crapped myself. I was like, ‘Okay, here we go!’ Just tried to stay consistent. Was starting to get a little bit of front-end movement down into two. Was just trying to keep the rhythm, keep going, try not to worry. The white flag was flying, and I got down into two, and I totally tucked the front and chattered it real hard and saved it. I was just like, ‘If you crash this thing on the last lap, you’re an idiot.’ I just hit my marks. I was already into traffic. So, I just wanted to be the first one to them. Got through it all right. Came out onto the front straightaway, and it was smooth sailing. Big shout out to the Saddlemen guys. Those dudes have really, really long days when they’re here at the racetrack. They put together some great bikes. We’ve got a bunch of good sponsors on board this year. It’s just awesome to get another win.”
