MotoAmerica Announces Bagger Race Series

Baggers? Going racing? Yep, it’s a thing. In fact, it’s been a thing for years and now, it’s getting its own dang event from the sanctioning body of American motorcycle racing!

That’s right, MotoAmerica and Drag Specialties are bringing bagger roadracing to a famously twisted and kinked-up road course—Northern California’s storied Laguna Seca track—in a first-ever event called King of the Baggers. The highly customized V-twins will be invading this summer—Saturday, July 11, to be exact.

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It’ll be held in conjunction with round 6 of the 2020 MotoAmerica Series, and the Drag Specialties King of the Baggers race will also be part of the MotoAmerica Superbike Speedfest at Monterey, a weekend that’s already packed full of motorcycle sport and lifestyle. It means seven classes of racing will unfurl on the iconic 2.238-mile circuit nestled in the hills of the Monterey Peninsula. Yup, Baggers will be joining the premier MotoAmerica Superbike, Supersport, Liqui Moly Junior Cup, Stock 1000, Twins Cup, and Heritage Cup racing.

So will it be a spec class? Maybe sub-2,000cc American V-twins only? Minimum 10-inch bars? We don’t know all the details just yet but MotoAmerica has said the King of the Baggers will crown a champion—and the competitors for that crown will come from an elite group of V-twin companies to be named in mid-February. Teams will be showcasing their V-twin Bagger products both on the racetrack and off, so you can bet there will be some heavy hitters on site.

“I can’t wait to go watch the Baggers come down the Corkscrew for the first time,” said MotoAmerica President Wayne Rainey. “That will be a sight that I think our fans will love. I think these guys will put on a heck of a show and it will tie in nicely with all the other things we have planned for the Superbike Speedfest at Monterey.”

Jim Matchette, Drag Specialties’ national sales manager, said, “We are excited to be a part of this ground-breaking event and look forward to seeing where this inaugural race takes the performance bagger market. Drag Specialties has all the premier brands that will make these bikes perform at their highest level. We look forward to…Laguna Seca in July.”

Builders are also stoked for the brand new King of the Baggers event to go down.

“In all my years of working in the motorcycle industry, I have never been to Laguna Seca,” said Brandon Holstein, owner/builder of The Speed Merchant. “So I am beyond excited to be going for the first time and being a part of the first-ever Drag Specialties King of the Baggers race.”

Look for coming announcements about the builders and get a sneak peek at the bikes at motoamerica.com.