Indian Motorcycle has closed the 2026 King of the Baggers season as champion after a campaign in which its Challenger secured 10 of the 14 race victories. The manufacturer also finished with 24 podiums, a new record for a manufacturer in the series. Hayden Gillim won the riders’ title for the Vance & Hines Motorsports factory effort, taking eight victories—more than Harley-Davidson’s total for the season.

Gillim’s championship was secured at the Circuit of the Americas earlier in the month. Indian then added more podium results at New Jersey Motorsports Park while bringing the season to a close, including a complete podium sweep in the opening race there. The result gave the Challenger a strong finish to its first year under the Vance & Hines Motorsports partnership, which produced Indian’s 10 wins across the campaign.

All of the season’s race wins were shared by four riders. Gillim and Troy Herfoss represented Vance & Hines Motorsports, while Bradley Smith and Kyle Wyman raced for the Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Race team. Indian’s 10 victories against that opposition underline the scale of the Challenger programme’s advantage in 2026, with the PowerPlus engine platform also identified as a central part of the result.

Indian targets consecutive championships

Indian Motorcycle CEO Mike Kennedy said the outcome was particularly notable because the team arrived at the Daytona season opener in March with only one testing session completed. He credited the performance to the Indian Challenger, the wider PowerPlus platform and the cooperation between Indian Motorcycle and Vance & Hines Motorsports, describing the season as a new benchmark for bagger racing.

The complete Indian factory team will return in 2027 with Gillim and Herfoss. Herfoss is the 2024 series champion, and Kennedy has set the next target as becoming the first manufacturer to win consecutive King of the Baggers titles. Indian therefore begins the new season with the reigning champion, an established title winner and the Challenger at the centre of its continued factory programme.