Originally slated to take place on July 11, the Drag Specialties 'King of the Baggers' race at the legendary Laguna Seca, California racetrack will now happen on the weekend of October 23-25 during the rescheduled MotoAmerica Superbike Speedfest at Monterey.
MotoAmerica and Drag Specialties combined to make Bagger class road racing a reality as the highly customized, ever-booming V-twins invade the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for the first-ever 'King of the Baggers' event.
Held in conjunction with the rearranged 2020 MotoAmerica Series, the Drag Specialties 'King of the Baggers' will be part of "a weekend packed full of motorcycle sport and lifestyle." Additionally, Classic Cycle Events will produce a motorcycle swap meet and show at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in conjunction with the Superbike Speedfest at Monterey.
That means seven classes of racing will take to one of the most famous racetracks in the world, the iconic 2.238-mile circuit that's nestled in the hills of the Monterey Peninsula - with the Baggers joining the premier MotoAmerica Superbike, Supersport, Liqui Moly Junior Cup, Stock 1000, Twins Cup and Heritage Cup racing.
The 'King of the Baggers' will crown a champion from an elite group of V-twin vendors that includes the likes of Alloy Art, Barnett Tool & Engineering, Bassani, Feuling Parts, Legend Suspensions, MJK, Performance Machine, Saddlemen, S&S Cycle, Slyfox Performance, The Speed Merchant, Trask and Vance & Hines. Each team has accepted the challenge to build a racing machine that will showcase their individual specialty in the market
AMA Hall of Famer Don Emde, who won the Daytona 200 as a privateer in 1972, will be Grand Marshall for the 'King of the Baggers' race and will parade the newly restored Feuling W3 around Laguna Seca before the race - corkscrew 'n all!
In winning at Daytona, Emde gave Yamaha its first ever Daytona 200 win, rode the smallest ever displacement race bike to a win there, took the first ever victory there for a 2-stroke and created father/son history - his father Floyd Emde took a flag-to-flag 200 win on the beach at Daytona in 1948 - the last time it was won on an Indian.
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| The W3 was the brainchild of performance legend Jim Feuling. |
As the name suggests, the W3 was the brainchild of performance legend Jim Feuling and was, and now is again, a three-cylinder, air-cooled, two-valve, triple-gear driven cam 4" bore by 4" stroke 150 cubic inch monster. The low center of gravity and 90-degree layout always had a reputation as an excellent engine, producing smooth power from what were, essentially, three Twin Cam cylinders joined in unholy matrimony!
Thanks to Luke Leatherman, Cameron Pallet and the team at Feuling Parts (the Oceanside, California modern day iteration of the performance parts business that Jim Feuling founded), the W3 will ride again, having made a restored debut at the Drag Specialties Dealer Expo in February at Louisville, Ky., in February.
Alex Fox, founder of SLYFOX Performance, added: "I'm honored to have my brand be a part of this first-ever event of this magnitude. That corkscrew section will be something to keep an eye on. This day will be one for the history books."
"This is for the fans and for the brands who love to build and ride - racing is part of Saddlemen's heritage, and we're honored to be on the starting grid with our moto family," said David Echert, CEO of Saddlemen.
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