Via MotoAmerica Press Release- ELKHART LAKE, WI (June 4, 2023) – With a record three-day crowd of 41,000 spectators on hand at Road America on Sunday, the five support classes of the MotoAmerica Championship were on center stage and they didn’t disappoint.
Mission King Of The Baggers – The Fonger!
The last thing anybody thought would happen in the Mission King Of The Bagger race at Road America was that one rider would simply ride off in the distance and leave the rest to fight for second place. But that’s what happened on Sunday as Sac Mile/SDI Racing/Roland Sands/Indian’s Bobby Fong annihilated the rest of the Mission King Of The Baggers field, winning by an unheard of 5.7 seconds.
The race didn’t start well for Fong as he somehow made the airbag in his leathers activate after the warm-up lap and he started the race looking like Bibendum. It didn’t slow him down, however, as he got a great start and simply pulled away.
In Fong’s wake was a full-on war with James Rispoli, Kyle Wyman, Hayden Gillim and Jeremy McWilliams brawling over the remaining podium spots. The runner-up spot ended up going to Vance & Hines/Mission Harley-Davidson’s Rispoli over H-D Screamin’ Eagle’s Wyman by just .010 of a second. Gillim was right behind them in fourth with Travis Wyman fifth on the second H-D Screamin’ Eagle Harley. McWilliams, meanwhile, crashed out of the race on the last lap two turns from the finish.
“It's been a rollercoaster of a year, but we’ve shown some glimpses of hope here and there and had some bad luck, but that’s part of racing,” Fong said. “I’ve dealt with worse in the past. I’m just thankful to be up here today. Before the race, I was just doing my little warmup, pump me up, little pump my
chest and the damn airbag popped off, but it gave me a little adrenaline rush right before the race. The main thing, my goal was just to get away from the chaos behind me. I knew it was going to be a mess back there. I got the initial jump and then I started slipping my clutch. I’m like, ‘damn, they’re all going to blow by me,’ and nobody got by me. Yesterday Tyler (O’Hara) and Jeremy (McWilliams) had a hell of a start, so I was just waiting for them to blow by me. But I just put my head down the first lap. I’m like, ‘okay, I feel good.’ The pace was pretty smooth. I felt pretty good doing it, but I can’t get too used to this. These guys are going pretty good. Laguna (Seca) they go real well also. I’m going to have my hands full for the rest of the year, and we’ll just keep our head down and keep pushing.”
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