Vance & Hines’ Gillim Crowned King of the Baggers
The 2023 Mission King Of The Baggers Championship ended in dramatic fashion as the season came to a close at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson rider, Hayden Gillim, was crowned King of the Baggers for the 2023 season.
“It’s been one of, if not the best, year of my life,” said Gillim, who won three races with eight additional podium finishes on the season. “I’m really happy to bring this home for Vance & Hines, for Mission Foods, and for Harley-Davidson. Next season will be a real scrap in this series. Honestly the field is stacked, and if everybody stays next year it’s going to be a tough championship to hold onto.”
Only seven points separated Vance & Hines Mission Harley-Davidson teammates Hayden Gillim and James Rispoli going into Sunday’s race two at New Jersey Motorsports Park. But the showdown never really materialized because Rispoli ran off the track while leading early in the race on the wet-but-drying track. Although Rispoli didn’t crash, the off-track excursion put him well back in the pack and he ended up seventh.
That essentially handed the title to Gillim, but he still had to race, and he ultimately finished second to H-D Screamin’ Eagle rider Kyle Wyman who won the race after having a miserable weekend to that point that was lowlighted by his crash in Saturday’s race one that eliminated any chance of him winning the championship.
“I was just like everybody, watching the weather today, trying to figure out what was going to happen,” Wyman said. “I almost put slicks on for that. It probably would have been tricky. This place is just so treacherous. Finally, they’re going to repave this place after this weekend so we can put this place as it exists in the past, which is great. I’m sure it’s going to be an incredible venue. It’s a great venue, but it will be an incredible venue when it gets repaved and all that. I tried to get a good start. I made sure I squeezed the lever in turn one with those wet spots. You just make a little mistake… I was really focused on that. It was a shame to see James go off like that. He was pushing. He wanted it. He was actually building a little bit of a gap in the first half of that first lap. I was wondering if I was going to be able to go with him. I just didn’t make any mistakes. Kept it clean. We did last year. We were out of the championship. We finished with a win, just to send the message. It’s obvious that we’re here. It really stings coming up short two years in a row when we’ve won the most races both years. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but I’m proud of my year. I’m proud of the race wins. I’m proud of the team. What Harley-Davidson and this whole team has done from a development standpoint that also trickles down to these guys and how they’re performing. Hayden and James just refused to have a bad day this year. It seemed like every time they had issues, it was in a challenge or practice or whatever. It’s really tough to win a championship against guys that are that solid. Pretty cool story with Hayden these last few weeks. He’s a good guy. He deserves all that’s coming to him, and the championship included.
Third place went to M3/Revolution Performance Indian Challenger rider Max Flinders whose popularity as a crowd and paddock favorite was underscored by the raucous celebration he received on the podium after the race. For Flinders, it was his first career MotoAmerica podium. “I’m also pumped for Max,” Kyle said. “Congratulations on your first podium.”
Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle factory rider Kyle Wyman scored his seventh win of the season and Vance & Hines/Mission Foods Harley-Davidson rider Hayden Gillim secured the season championship on Sunday in the final race of the 2023 MotoAmerica Mission King of the Baggers series at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, N.J. Vance & Hines/Mission Foods rider James Rispoli finished second in the championship standings and Wyman was third as Harley-Davidson riders claimed the top three spots in final series points.
MotoAmerica King of the Baggers Race Results – New Jersey Motorsports Park Race 1
- Hayden Gillim (H-D) Vance & Hines/Mission Foods/Harley-Davidson
- James Rispoli (H-D) Vance & Hines/Mission Foods/Harley-Davidson
- Travis Wyman (H-D) Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson
- Kyle Ohnsorg (Ind) Roland Sands Design
- Bobby Fong (Ind) Sacramento Mile/SDI Racing/Roland Sands Design
- Jake Lewis (H-D) Team Saddlemen
- Max Flinders (Ind) M3/Revolution Performance
- Tyler O’Hara (Ind) Progressive/Mission Foods
- Frankie Garcia (H-D) Team Saddlemen
- Patricia Fernandez-West (H-D) Team Saddlemen
DNF. Kyle Wyman (H-D) Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson
DNF. Cody Wyman (H-D) Team Saddlemen
DNF. Jeremy McWilliams (Ind) Progressive/Mission Foods
MotoAmerica King of the Baggers Race Results – New Jersey Motorsports Park Race 2
- Kyle Wyman (H-D) Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson
- Hayden Gillim (H-D) Vance & Hines/Mission Foods/Harley-Davidson
- Max Flinders (Ind) M3/Revolution Performance
- Bobby Fong (Ind) Sacramento Mile/SDI Racing/Roland Sands
- Jeremy McWilliams (Ind) Progressive/Mission Foods
- Travis Wyman (H-D) Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson
- James Rispoli (H-D) Vance & Hines/Mission Foods/Harley-Davidson
- Kyle Ohnsorg (Ind) Roland Sands Design
- Jake Lewis (H-D) Team Saddlemen
- Frankie Garcia (H-D) Team Saddlemen
- Patricia Fernandez-West (H-D) Team Saddlemen
DNF. Tyler O’Hara (Ind) Progressive/Mission Foods
DNF. Cody Wyman (H-D) Team Saddlemen
