INTERVIEW I MOTOAMERICA STOCK 1000 & KING OF THE BAGGERS CHAMPION HAYDEN GILLIM
P90
In the King of the Baggers title
chase, Hayden's strong second
half of the season sealed the
championship for him. Start-
ing at Laguna Seca midway
through the campaign, Hayden
finished on the podium in every
race through the end of the year,
including scoring victory in three
rounds. Kyle Wyman was the
biggest threat early with four
consecutive victories, but in the
end, it was Hayden's Vance &
Hines/Mission Harley-Davidson
teammate James Rispoli who he
had to hold off to secure the title.
With the championship on the
line, the Baggers season finale
on a wet-to-drying track at New
Jersey Motorsports Park was
especially stressful for Hayden.
"We were on the grid for race
two, and the track was kind
of half dry, half wet," Hayden
remembers. "There were still a
couple of good wet spots, but
it was mostly dry and we come
around and are gridding up. I told
my guy Ricky to throw the slick
on the rear. I was like, we're going
for it. So, he starts changing the
tire. I look back, and I'm watching
James, and they're kind of, you
know, farting around, fiddling with
the rear tire, kind of acting like
they're going to change it. I asked
James, 'Are you going for it? You
gonna go dry?' He was like, 'No,
I'm not doing it.' I was like, 'Damn!
Alright. Ricky, take that slick back
off. Let's go!'"
In sketchy conditions,
Hayden kept it on two wheels,
finishing second to Travis
Wyman, and that was more
Gillim wants to be in Superbike full-time. His best result was sixth at Brainerd in 2023.
