Story and photos courtesy of Drag Specialties Magazine
Even though the term " Performance Baggers " has been around for a while , many people laughed back in 2020 when the concept of racing Harley and Indian Baggers was first introduced . The laughter subsided in October that year when the first " Drag Specialties King of the Baggers " race was run at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey , California . The racing was entertaining , and the audience enjoyed seeing the upgrades that the teams had made to raise the ground clearance , reduce the weight and increase the horsepower . That single race at Laguna Seca opened the door for an organization called the Bagger Racing League , dedicated 100 % to roadracing American-made V-twin motorcycles . BRL founder Rob Buydos put together a two-event series for 2021 to include a variety of machines . Classes include the F / S Cup exclusively for watercooled Harleys and Indians ; Lite Weight Twins for Sportsters ; Big Twins ; Pro Stock Baggers and the premier Bagger GP class . Following the first event at Utah Motorsport Campus in June of 2021 , the series moved in December to Sonoma Raceway , located in the wine country just north of San Francisco Bay . Points earned in Sonoma would be added to those from Utah to determine the 2021 Champions . One last-minute change was combining what would have been a two-day race into a single day on December 11th because of a heavy rainstorm due to arrive on Sunday . The newsmakers of the Sonoma round were Patricia Fernandez , first female competitor to win a BRL race when she won both the F / S cup race and the 2021 # 1 plate in her class aboard a Team Saddlemen Indian ; Benny Carlson , who won three races ( ICON Lite Weight Twins , NAMZ Big Twin and Metzeler Pro Stock Bagger ). He won the Pro Stock Bagger race and season championship on the SlyFox / Suburban Harley-Davidson , plus the Lite Weight
The most successful rider at the BRL Sonoma race was Benny Carlson . The Wisconsin rider was winner of the Lite Weight Twins and Big Twin class aboard the two # 45 Suburban Harley-Davidsons seen here , as well as the Pro Stock Bagger race on the # 9 SlyFox / Suburban Harley-Davidson .
Race Results :
ICON Lite Weight Twins & F / S Cup classes combined :
Benny Carlson won his class ( Lite Weight Twins ) on a Suburban Harley-Davidson and 1st overall .
Patricia Fernandez on a Saddlemen Indian . She was 2nd overall and the F / S class winner .
Cory West - Saddlemen Harley-Davidson
NAMZ Big Twin class :
Benny Carlson won the Big Twin class on a Suburban Harley-Davidson .
Ravi Patel Clay Braun
Metzeler Pro Stock Bagger
Benny Carlson - SlyFox / Suburban Harley-Davidson
Arnie Wells Logan Lackey
Custom Dynamics Bagger GP
Shane Narbonne / Trask Turbo Harley-Davidson
Cory West - Saddlemen Harley-Davidson
Ben Bostrom - Feuling Harley-Davidson
Twins and Big Twin races for Suburban Harley-Davidson ; and last , but not least , was Shane Narbonne who passed Saddlemen ' s Cory West on the last lap of the Bagger GP race to win both the race and 2021 title for his Trask Turbo Harley-Davidson team .
Team Saddlemen rider Patricia Fernandez made some BRL racing history at Sonoma as the first female rider to win a BRL race or season title . Riding an Indian , she was the victor of the F / S class race and also took home the 2021 F / S season championship .
The closest race of the day was the final one . Shane Narbonne put the Trask Turbo Harley-Davidson in the lead on the last lap of the race ahead of Cory West on a Saddlemen Harley-Davidson .
Ben Bostrom has come out of retirement to compete in the new Bagger Racing series , and he finished third in the Bagger GP Class at Sonoma . In his racing career , Bostrom was an AMA Superbike Champion , Daytona 200 winner and a successful rider in the World Superbike Series .
The concept of racing big Harley or Indian Baggers is still a relatively new concept , but as the SlyFox Pro Stock Bagger shows , the machines are modified to deliver excellent road-hugging agility on a racetrack and fullscale horsepower upgrades .
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