NEW KING
In the space of six short months, Troy Herfoss came, saw, and emphatically conquered the MotoAmerica Mission® King of the Baggers.
Words By Rennie Scaysbrook
Photography de Brian J Nelson
In the grid for the final 2024 Mission® King of The Baggers Championship race at New Jersey Motorsports Park, S&S/Indian Motorcycle’s Troy Herfoss was so calm he looked like he was about to take his wife, Emily, for a two-up ride to a local biker bar. Laughing and joking with the GOAT of American Superbike Championship racing, Australian compatriot Mat Mladin, Herfoss’s unnerving cool was in stark contrast to the man he had to beat to win the championship — Harley-Davidson Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman. Wyman was a study of concentration, no smile getting anywhere near the New Yorker’s lips as his stony glare seemed to pierce through the television cameras. This race was winner-take-all and, what’s more, New Jersey Motorsports Park was Wyman’s home track. But it would take more than a home track advantage and a steely gaze to rattle the Herfoss cage.
The 37-year-old, who resides a stone’s throw from the Pacific Ocean on Australia’s Gold Coast, simply clicked into business mode, took the lead from Wyman on Lap One of nine, and stayed there — proceeding to pulverize his opponent for the remaining seven laps. Such was his advantage, Herfoss’s last lap was four seconds slower than his penultimate, and yet he still crossed the finish line 1.7 seconds up on Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson’s Rocco Landers to claim a resounding 2024 Mission® King of The Baggers Championship victory, the third such crown for Indian Motorcycle.
Troy Herfoss isn’t a man used to losing. The three-time Australian Superbike Champion, Indian Motorcycle’s surprise star recruit, took seven race wins in King of the Baggers 2024, almost all of them at racetracks he’d never seen before. Humble in the extreme, Herfoss knows he’s onto something special with Indian Motorcycle.
“It’s been an incredible journey,” Herfoss said. “Twelve months ago, I was in this position in Australia and on top of the world but didn’t know exactly what I wanted from racing moving forward. This incredible opportunity to come and race for a new motorcycle brand in King of The Baggers came up. I wanted to step outside my comfort zone, and that’s exactly what it was.” Herfoss is no stranger to the spoils of American racing. A champion during the AMA Super-moto heyday of the mid-2000s, life took Troy back home for what would become a 17-year domestic career, one of the most successful the Australian championship has ever seen. But that was then, and Herfoss is now firmly ensconced in the Indian Motorcycle family.
“Troy has fit in with this team perfectly,” says Gary Gray, Indian Motorcycle Vice President of Racing & Service, and the man who brought Troy to America. “He’s a super-likeable guy and has a great family around him with his wife, Emily, and their two girls. His talent is incredible. At Road Atlanta, a place he’d never seen before, he was doing all he could to stay on the track during opening practice and then he goes out in qualifying and takes pole. Who does that in a field this competitive? He had some rough patches during the year, especially at Brainerd, which is a very particular track to get right. However, with his crew chief, Charlie, coming over from Australia, we were given some new ideas and information that really helped us in the latter part of the season, and the way he won the title at New Jersey was pure domination after a season of trading punches. We work together as a family in this team and Troy has slotted in as well as anyone could ask for.”
ALL HAIL
The 2025 Mission® King of The Baggers season is certainly one to watch as Herfoss tries to fend off a horde of challengers ready to take his crown — but they better be ready. “I wouldn’t want to be racing against me,” he said before Round Two at Road Atlanta.
We wouldn’t either. All hail the new king!
Leave a Reply