Performance Baggers Will Race at Laguna Seca in July
We love fast touring bikes, but we never imagined that we’d see them on the racetrack.
Last year, we predicted that high-performance baggers would become a popular trend in 2020. What we didn’t predict, however, was their own professional racing class.
Asphalt & Rubber reports that MotoAmerica has created a special racing class for performance baggers. The race will be run at the legendary Laguna Seca race track as part of the MotoAmerica Superbike Speedfest at Monterey, which runs from July 10 through July 12.
Former championship road racer and current MotoAmerica president Wayne Rainey is excited for the race. In a press release, he stated “I can’t wait to go watch the baggers come down the Corkscrew for the first time.”
Details at the moment are thin. At this time, we don’t know much about the bikes, the racing modifications, or the teams and riders that will be campaigning them. It’s pretty obvious that Harley-Davidsons will feature heavily in the race, though.
We’ve been bullish on high performance baggers, but we never expected to see them on a race track. The fact that it’s Laguna Seca, one of America’s most famous road courses, is even more surprising.
We shouldn’t be surprised, though. After all, we’ve seen a lot of crazy things on the Internet over the years, from lawnmower racing to harvesting combine racing. It seems that racing is a primal human urge.
It’s likely that racing was humanity’s first sport. As the old adage says, “you don’t need to run faster than the bear — you just have to run faster than the slowest guy running from the bear.”
Basically, if it moves, humans will race it. Apparently, that now includes hot-rodded baggers.
We share Rainey’s enthusiasm for this bizarre race. “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.” If this is MotoAmerica’s way to trick us into watching supperbike racing, we’d say they’ve already succeeded. We’re not complaining. We’re excited to see what the race brings, and you know we’ll cover it here.
Photos: MotoAmerica, Asphalt & Rubber
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