Herfoss Bags a Podium in the Finale

The Queenslander bounced back after a difficult Race 1, but it was Gillim and Petersen who split the wins at New Jersey

The Mission King of the Baggers finale at New Jersey arrived with the big trophy already spoken for, Kyle Wyman having wrapped up the 2025 crown a round early at Circuit of The Americas. But the fight for second was anything but settled. Australian Troy Herfoss, teammate Loris Baz and late-season Harley charge Hayden Gillim were all clustered in the points after Herfoss lost a crucial 25 points after a Race 2 disqualification at Mid-Ohio. With the title decided in Harley-Davidson’s favour, Indian’s heavy hitters showed up in Millville intent on landing the last punch of the season.

Saturday’s Race 1 set the tone with a breathless duel up front and drama throughout the pack. Gillim launched hard from pole and immediately found himself in a tough scrap for the lead with SDI Racing’s Cameron Petersen, the pair trading fastest laps while easing away at the front. Petersen was inch-perfect on the Indian through the first half of the lap, but Gillim’s Vance & Hines Harley had the edge in the back half and he used smart racecraft to keep the door closed. Bradley Smith suffered a heavy highside, leaving him out of the action early.

Behind the leaders, Rocco Landers matched their pace in the low 1:22s but couldn’t quite cling to the draft, settling into a lonely third while newly crowned champion Wyman was best of the rest. At the flag, Gillim held his nerve despite a lurid moment at Turn 12 to win by 0.229 seconds from Petersen, with Landers third. Wyman crossed fourth ahead of Baz, who towed clear of James Rispoli for sixth, with Herfoss battling through setup issues and a mid-race tank-slapper to bring it home in seventh. Petersen’s consolation prize was a new race-best lap of 1:22.565, underlining SDI’s late-season speed.

Sunday’s finale flipped the script but kept the intensity. Gillim again made the early running, but Petersen carved through to second, lit the afterburners and began chipping away at the lead, unleashing the race’s best lap at 1:22.594 as he closed the gap and then struck for the lead with four to go. The final lap was a knife fight. Gillim pounced into Turn 1, Petersen immediately countered, and the South African rode the one-line run to the flag to perfection, covering every look Gillim threw and dragging the SDI Indian to his first King of the Baggers victory by 0.208 seconds.

It was a deserved breakthrough for a crew that had endured mechanical headaches most of the year and found form at the finish. Herfoss was much racier in the second New Jersey instalment, forcing his way past Wyman and then defending stoutly to secure third, a fitting podium to end a season that seldom reflected his underlying speed. Teammate Baz followed in fourth, with Wyman fifth from Rispoli.

Wyman finished the season as convincing champion, though the fact he failed to visit the podium in any of the final four races will give his opponents plenty of motivation to strike back in 2026. Baz clinched second in his rookie Baggers season ahead of Herfoss, Gillim and O’Hara. The early Harley barrage delivered the title, but with all signs pointing to the ‘Wrecking Crew’ trio returning for another crack in 2026, the rivalry will only get spicier.

Cameron Petersen (P2, P1)
“Honestly, I think I got a little bit lucky. Hayden made a mistake coming out of turn five and opened the door just enough for me to think about it, and I knew I had to go for it no matter what. It was pretty close; as soon as I got on the gas out of the corner I was happy, because when I was underneath him the front was making all kinds of shapes and it was close to going down and taking both of us out. I’m just so stoked. Like Hayden said, we were in the same boat: a couple of races into the season we were ready to give up on the bagger racing. Such a tough season. I think up until Ohio I’d finished two races and was lacking a lot of seat time. It’s massive for the team to finish the season like this and at least give them a taste of what it’s like and where the program should have been all season. The bike’s good, and the crew that works on it are unbelievable. Hopefully it gives them motivation to come back next year and keep pushing. I got off to a good start and tried to be smart into turn one. I got stuck behind Kyle at the beginning; that Harley has some legs on it, so I struggled to get by in the first couple laps. Once I did, Hayden had a big gap and I thought I wasn’t going to catch him because we’ve been pretty similar all weekend. I hit my marks, put my head down and slowly got onto the back of him. I’m so stoked to get this done, especially after tipping off early on the Supersport bike. I think if we’d had this package and consistency all season it would have been a different story, but regardless, finishing like this is good. I wish this was just the start of it.”

Hayden Gillim (P1, P2)
“It’s hard. I did what I had to do at the beginning and my board showed a pretty decent gap, then he reeled off a couple hot laps and it got me a little flustered. I heard him back there and made a little mistake out of five. I was really just trying to throw some water on him, try to get him flustered because I was flustered, but it was a fun race. I tried to give it a shot back at the end and, like yesterday with him, it’s tough to pass around here once you get behind somebody. I gave it a go and got him—it was pretty much a replay of Mid-Ohio with Troy going off the back straight there, but I kept this one on track. I’m really happy with how the last few rounds have gone for me and the team. Halfway through the season I was ready to call it quits on the bagger and focus on the Superbike stuff, and now these last couple of races have made it tough because now I’ve got to stay in this. I can’t go out. This is the first year in four that I haven’t finished in the top three in points and it’s a little heartbreaking, but it’s going to be a lot of fun if everybody keeps this speed up for Daytona next year; it’s going to be some good bar‑banging action. Mid-Ohio was so far out of the points that at this point of the season I told the guys I’m not here for second place—if I can go for first, I’m going for first. That’s why I made that big lunge at Mid-Ohio on Troy, and I wasn’t upset about it afterwards. I don’t have a shot at the top three, so I’m just going for race wins. Those guys deserve it; I feel like I deserve it, and it’s been some good racing at the front the last couple of rounds.”

Troy Herfoss (P7, P3)
“Basically I struggled in the first session and chased my tail for a lot of the weekend. We’re riding baggers and they’re not always perfect; it wasn’t perfect for me this weekend. In the race I felt a lot better in Race 2; I could ride the bike a little bit stronger, but we made some mistakes. It was a rough weekend with really small mechanicals—borderline, is it my feel with the motorbike? There wasn’t a lot going wrong, but there was something going wrong. Saying that, the bike worked perfectly in Race 2 and I still got my arse kicked, and I got my arse kicked by another Challenger—probably as bad as it’s ever been. Indian versus Indian is pretty hard to swallow. I can see he’s struggling in the same area as I am, so big kudos to Cam for the win and also Hayden. Yesterday I wasn’t comfortable, but today I just watched the race go away. A part of me’s happy I didn’t throw it away. I don’t recall finishing third that much—second sometimes—but I’ve been down the road in third and fourth battles. We’re racing motorbikes; it was a lot of fun. We finished the year off safe and healthy. The championship’s wide open. Kyle hasn’t been here since Laguna; I don’t think he’s been right towards the front a few rounds back. He’s got the number one plate, but that’s got to be weighing on him. Hayden’s been super dominant; now Cam’s going really well. Loris has been good; I’ve been hit and miss. There’s a lot to play for going to Daytona next year. That’s what brings us back to racing, and I’m looking forward to the offseason and trying to be a better motorbike rider. I don’t know if that’s possible at 38; we’ll see how we go!”

2025 KOTB NEW JERSEY RACE 1

2025 KOTB NEW JERSEY RACE 2

2025 King of the Baggers Final Standings