While it was Eli Tomac and Brandon Paasch who took victory in the two premier races of Daytona Bike Week - Tomac winning the Daytona Supercross, and Paasch taking victory in the Daytona 200 the following weekend - it was Indian who enjoyed perhaps the most successful week in Daytona.
The historic brand took victories in both the King of the Baggers on the famous speedway, and AMA Pro Flat Track at the Volusia Half Mile.
On the speedway, it was first inaugural Baggers champion Tyler O’Hara who took Indian to the top step, winning despite starting the race in last, with the first Daytona podium for the Baggers completed by Harley-Davidson factory riders Travis and Kyle Wyman.
For race two, it was ex-Grand Prix racer, the unageing Jeremy McWilliams, who triumphed by less than a tenth of a second ahead of O’Hara and Bobby Fong to complete an all-Indian podium.
After the season-opening double-header, O’Hara said, “We took a lot of motivation from the disappointing outcome in 2021 and poured it into intensive off-season testing and preparation to ensure we came back strong in 2022, and this weekend was testament to the dedication, expertise and commitment of our entire team.”
Over in Volusia at the Half Mile flat track race, it was Briar Bauman who took the win for Indian, as he got his campaign for a second Grand National title underway in perfect fashion aboard the FTR750.
After the successful weekend, Indian’s Racing, Service and Technology Vice Chairman, Gary Gray said, “We’re certainly happy to get off to such a positive start, but we know full well that this is merely the beginning. There’s a lot more racing ahead of us, and we expect every race weekend to be a dogfight to the finish.”
