The Championship Picture: King of the Baggers

Mission King of the Baggers returns to action at Circuit of the Americas this weekend after having a break since Mid-Ohio. Hayden Gillim will be looking to add more wins to his total as he has already taken the top spot on the podium in seven of 10 races run this year.

While it is hard to poke holes in any sort of resume that includes a 70% win rate during a season, Gillim has only scored 31 points combined in the three races he did not win. Just over half of that total came in Race 1 at Laguna Seca where Gillim was on the podium in third place while the rest came from finishes of eighth and ninth place, respectively.

Despite taking very different paths to get here, the two J&P Cycles/Motul/Vance & Hines Factory Indian riders are first and second in the championship with Gillim leading his teammate Troy Herfoss by 23 points. That is close enough so that despite all of Hayden Gillim’s wins this season if he experiences any sort of issues this weekend Troy Herfoss will be right there to challenge for the championship lead.

Herfoss has been able to keep the championship in sight by taking the opposite approach and remaining remarkably consistent. While only having one win in 2026, if it weren’t for two fourth place finishes at Road America, Herfoss would have a podium finish in every race this year.

There is a 31-point gap between Herfoss in second and Bradley Smith leading the way for the Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing team in third place with 152 points. Smith earned those points by not only being on the podium for six races so far in 2026, but in five of those races Smith was the first Harley rider at the finish. That includes his first King of the Baggers win that he was able to score in Race 1 at Laguna Seca.

There is another 26-point gap back to current number one plate holder Kyle Wyman and he leads a four-way battle for fourth that can determine the overall balance of power within the top five of the class.

Currently, we have two Factory Indian Challengers that are leading two Factory Harley-Davidson Road Glides with Bradley Smith and Kyle Wyman in third and fourth place. Only 14 points behind Wyman is the factory-supported SDI Indian Challenger of former Baggers champion Tyler O’Hara.

Behind O’Hara, it’s only a further four points to James Rispoli on Big Diehl x Harley-Davidson Factory Racing Road Glide who also leads Vance & Hines Factory Indian rider Rocco Landers by a scant six points. Don’t forget; Rocco earned his first King of the Baggers victory here in 2024 and he would love to add another race or two to his win total here.

With two riders from each factory currently occupying four of the top five positions, the battle for fifth could decide whether Indian or Harley-Davidson leaves COTA with the numerical advantage at the front of the championship standings.