The upcoming Road America stop on the MotoAmerica King of the Baggers calendar will see fresh faces on familiar machinery when Saddlemen Racing Development puts two American talents into competition for the first time. Both Max Toth and Nolan Lamkin are scheduled to race Harley-Davidson Road Glide machines at the Road America round taking place May 29-31, 2026. Neither rider has prior experience on a bagger—a heavyweight touring motorcycle adapted for road racing—but both are eager to transfer their existing skills to the unique demands of this class.
The lineup change reflects Saddlemen’s flexibility and depth as a development program. Twenty-year-old Toth and 25-year-old Lamkin will represent the team on American soil while two regular riders travel to Europe for another series. This swap highlights how international commitments can reshape a domestic entry list and gives fans a new storyline: young riders confronting a new genre of machinery under the Saddlemen banner.
The riders stepping into the saddle
Nolan Lamkin arrives at Road America with a strong road-racing résumé, including the title of the 2026 MotoAmerica Superbike Cup Champion. At 25, Lamkin brings professional experience and racecraft that can smooth the transition onto a heavier platform like the Road Glide. He will take over duties for Saddlemen regular Cory West, who will be competing at Mugello in the first European round of the FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup. Lamkin’s presence underscores the depth of MotoAmerica talent capable of stepping into substitute roles while still offering competitive pace.
Max Toth’s background and opportunity
Max Toth, aged 20, has built his career through junior categories and international contests, with race victories in the MotoAmerica Junior Cup and success in various European championships. Toth will ride the machine normally campaigned by Jake Lewis, who likewise will be at Mugello for the Bagger World Cup round. This assignment gives Toth a rare chance to adapt his lighter-class instincts to the torque and mass characteristics of a bagger while representing Saddlemen in front of a passionate Midwest crowd.
The machines and what changes with substitutions
The Harley-Davidson Road Glide is the platform for Saddlemen’s bagger program, tuned for racing with modified suspension, brakes, and aerodynamic adaptations. For riders like Toth and Lamkin, that means learning how to manage the bike’s weight transfer, engine braking, and cornering rhythm differently than on sportbikes. The term bagger here refers to a touring-derived motorcycle converted for closed-course speed and agility; understanding that concept is central to predicting how each rider will approach practice sessions and qualifying at Road America.
Substitutions bring technical and strategic consequences for the team. Engineers must adapt setup baselines to each rider’s ergonomic preferences and riding style, and both athletes will need to compress typical acclimation timelines into a single event weekend. Saddlemen’s crew faces the task of delivering a consistent, race-ready package while the new pilots learn braking points, tire behavior, and throttle mapping specific to the Road Glide in race trim.
What to watch at Road America
Fans should pay attention to the evolving learning curve: how quickly Toth and Lamkin find rhythm on the heavy machines, their qualifying times relative to established bagger riders, and their racecraft in traffic and restarts. Equally interesting will be comparisons between the two substitutes and the usual Saddlemen riders who are competing at Mugello. The Road America round offers long straights and sweeping corners that will expose any hesitation in bike handling or unfamiliarity with the bagger’s braking envelope, so expect notable developments across practice and race day.
In short, the Road America weekend on May 29-31, 2026 promises a mix of youth, adaptation, and managerial agility for Saddlemen Racing Development. With Nolan Lamkin filling in for Cory West and Max Toth stepping into Jake Lewis‘s ride, the team balances international commitments while offering two Americans a high-profile debut in the MotoAmerica King of the Baggers series. Observers will be watching how quickly these riders translate their backgrounds into competitive performance on the distinctive Harley-Davidson Road Glide platform.
