Indian Motorcycle Partners With Vance & Hines for KOTB Race Team
Commencing in 2026, Indian Motorcycle and Vance & Hines are back in partnership with a multi-year deal to operate a new 'Wrecking Crew' Factory Race Team effort to make an assault on the Moto America King Of The Baggers Championship.
The three-man team will include 2024 Champion Troy Herfoss, 2023 Champion Hayden Gillim, and Rising Star Rocco Landers to Pilot All-New Vance & Hines-Built Indian Challenger Race Bikes.
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| Dripping with S&S 'Proven Performance' (Indian Motorcycle's race partner at the time) the limited edition 2022 Indian Challenger RR released to mark Tyler O'Hara's 2022 KOTB Championship win was originally offered at $92,299 in the United States and limited to 29 examples. Newly acclaimed in Europe as Manuel Grandi's inaugural 2025 European BRL Championship winning race bike, the race ready winner is now being quoted at around $100,000 by independent sellers in UK and elsewhere. |
The Indian Factory Race Team will be supported by J&P Cycles, MOTUL, Progressive Insurance, Drag Specialties and Performance Finance.
"Indian Motorcycle is entering a new era in its historic journey in 2026, and the first place we plan to prove it is on the racetrack. This partnership is a reminder of what American performance looks like when you refuse to back down," said Mike Kennedy, Indian Motorcycle CEO, and former President of Vance & Hines.
"As the leading aftermarket supplier for V-Twin performance, with nearly 50 years of innovation and racing success, Vance & Hines is the ideal partner to drive the next era of Indian Motorcycle racing, and we couldn't be more excited to get started."
The news appears to be framed in such a way that KOTB may be followed by additional race efforts. The "partnership commences with Vance & Hines spearheading the Indian Motorcycle-Vance & Hines factory racing program in the 2026 MotoAmerica King of the Baggers series." This apparently leaves open the option to return the Indian brand to racing endeavors such as AFT in the future - raising the possibility of a new performance production bike platform to pick-up the slack created by the retirement of the FTR750 under Polaris' ownership.
The announcement went on to state that "with an all-new Indian Motorcycle Wrecking Crew, the Indian Motorcycle-Vance & Hines factory racing team enters 2026 with a singular goal: dominating the 2026 King of the Baggers series. At the heart of the factory race team is an all-new, Vance & Hines-modified Indian Challenger, powered by the Indian Motorcycle PowerPlus engine."
Since the inaugural King of the Baggers race in 2020, the Indian Challenger and Vance & Hines have combined for four of the six King of the Baggers championships.
"Armed with the industry's most decorated performance bagger and an unmatched rider lineup, the team is poised to write the next chapter in American racing history beginning with the season opener at Daytona International Speedway March 5-7, 2026. Indian Motorcycle is entering a new era in its historic journey in 2026, and the first place we plan to prove it is on the racetrack. This partnership is a reminder of what American performance looks like when you refuse to back down," said Mike Kennedy, Indian Motorcycle CEO. "As the leading aftermarket supplier for V-Twin performance, with nearly 50 years of innovation and racing success, Vance & Hines is the ideal partner to drive the next era of Indian Motorcycle racing, and we couldn't be more excited to get started.
"The partnership represents nearly 150 years of combined racing history and success. Indian Motorcycle was founded through racing in 1901 and forged a legacy of domination on the track that has carried the brand for more than a century. Since 1979, Vance & Hines has carved a racing legacy of its own, managing successful race programs and capturing championships across road racing, flat track and drag racing for Ducati, Suzuki, Yamaha and Harley-Davidson."
Indeed, new Indian Motorcycle CEO Mike Kennedy's race program credentials are without parallel in the space. As a former senior Harley executive he had been point-man for their own partnership with Vance & Hines and subsequently oversaw the race relationship he had built from the 'other side of the track' when he was President of Vance & Hines. What goes round comes round?
