Hayden Gillim secured the 2026 King of the Baggers championship after the two races at Circuit of the Americas. It is his second title in the series, following his 2023 championship. This season also gives the achievement a unique distinction: Gillim is the first rider to win the title with two different manufacturers. He raced for the Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson team in 2023; this year, the team is competing with Indian.

Gillim arrived at COTA with a 23-point advantage over teammate Troy Herfoss and a 54-point margin over Bradley Smith of Harley-Davidson x Dynojet. He won the opening race, finishing ahead of Smith and teammate Rocco Landers. Herfoss, meanwhile, retired after crashing on his third lap. That left Gillim needing to protect his championship position in Race 2 rather than needing another outright victory.

Smith won the second race after passing Gillim on lap four at Turn 13. He finished 4.717 seconds clear, while Gillim held second place ahead of SDI Racing’s Tyler O’Hara. Herfoss was fifth, behind James Rispoli. The result was Smith’s second win of the season and moved him into second in the standings.

A maximum of 50 points remained across the two-race New Jersey finale, so Gillim’s 54-point lead over Smith was enough to make the championship mathematically secure. Gillim had won 8 of the 12 races held up to COTA. After the event, the top six in the standings were Gillim on 251 points, Smith on 197, Herfoss on 194, O’Hara on 141, Kyle Wyman on 134 and Rispoli on 132. The season concludes at New Jersey Motorsports Park on September 25–27.