Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle Factory Team to Race in King of the Baggers
H-D Contingency Program of nearly $30,000 Also Announced
By Kali Kotoski
April 9, 2021 – The future of Harley-Davidson’s commitment to racing appeared in doubt after the manufacturer decoupled with Vance & Hines last November, effectively killing its factory drag racing and American Flat Track racing programs.
But Harley-Davidson is back, and its in-house Screamin’ Eagle factory racing team will compete in MotoAmerica’s King of the Baggers road racing series with a race-modified Road Glide Special sporting a Milwaukee-Eight 131 Performance Crate Engine, the most-powerful street-compliant performance engine offered by Harley-Davidson.
“Competing in the King of the Baggers series gives Harley-Davidson an opportunity to showcase our Screamin’ Eagle performance products in the heat of competition,” said Jochen Zeitz, chairman, president and CEO Harley-Davidson, in a news release. “Nobody knows more about building Harley-Davidson performance than our Screamin’ Eagle engineers.”
Given the massive popularity of the 2020 King of the Baggers invitational held last October at Laguna Seca, it is hard to imagine Harley-Davidson would risk missing out on the three-round series for 2021. In 2020, the Harley-Davidson Vance & Hines team earned a respectable second place with Hayden Gillim at the helm with Indian rider Tyler O’Hara taking first, thus reigniting a cherished American V-Twin rivalry.
For 2021, veteran road racer Kyle Wyman is hoping to carry Harley-Davidson to the next level. Wyman is no stranger to H-D racing, being an accomplished racer in the Harley-Davidson XR1200 series. He also won the Daytona 200 in 2019 and placed seventh overall in the 2020 HONOS Superbike series, the premier MotoAmerica road racing class.
“I am very excited and honored to be the rider of the Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle Road Glide Special,” said Wyman in the release. “To be a factory rider for Harley-Davidson is something I’ve dreamed of since I was little, watching my hero Scott Parker win Grand National Championships on the Harley-Davidson XR750. I look forward to our first race at Road Atlanta and competing aboard this amazing machine.”
In addition to its factory team effort, Harley-Davidson will offer a nearly $30,000 cash contingency program for qualified Harley-Davidson racers competing in the three-race King of the Baggers series.
The MotoAmerica King of the Baggers series kicks off April 30-May 2 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, and continues June 11-13 at Road America Elkhart Lake, Wis., and July 9-11 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Calif.