Harley-Davidson’s racing history: Part two

In this second round-up of highlights from the Motor Company’s racing history, we meet some rising stars who carry the brand’s success into the 21^st century.

Continuing our look back at highlights from Harley-Davidson’s racing history, we pick up the story in the 1970s. The first half of the 20th century saw great leaps and bounds in the development of motorcycle technology, both on and off the racetrack. The second half continued this trend, including the most successful flat track racing model of all time…

1970s
The XR750 (in response to new AMA rules for Class C racing) was introduced in 1970. The model was then refreshed in 1972, with a focus on making it more powerful and reliable, leading to three decades of dominance on the dirt track. Mark Brelsford, Gary Scott, and Jay Springsteen achieved wins at the AMA Grand National Championship.

1980s
After Jay Springsteen’s three consecutive wins at the AMA Grand National Championship in the late 1970s, Randy Goss carried this torch forward into a new decade with a top spot at the event in 1980. In 1982, H-D riders took the top three spots at the event and held the title for two years. Elsewhere on the AMA dirt track circuit, Scott Parker began racing for the Harley-Davidson team. He would go on to become the most successful racer in Harley-Davidson history, racking up 93 career victories and winning nine Grand National Champion titles in a 10-year period. He closed the decade with a win at the AMA Grand National Championship in 1988.

1990s
In the 1990s, some attention turned toward road racing with the revival of the Motor Company’s road-racing program, resulting in the formation of the VR 1000 Superbike Racing Team in 1994. The VR 1000 raced to a podium finish with Tom Wilson in 1996, placing second at Mid-Ohio and continuing that precedent with three top-five finishes in the same year. Chris Carr also found success, rounding out 1996 with five top-10 placements and the model’s first AMA Superbike pole at Pomona. The program continued to make impressive strides, with Pascal Picotte claiming two podium finishes and four top-five places in 1999.

2000s
This decade opened with the retirement of Scott Parker. He’d racked up an unprecedented 93 dirt track victories and nine AMA championship titles. He was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2003, and to mark the occasion, Harley-Davidson’s congratulatory material read: “Scott Parker. Always been number one. Always will.” The Motor Company continued to compete on the dirt track, with Jennifer Snyder joining the team in 2001. She became the first woman to win a national event in the Formula USA National Dirt Track Series, aged just 17.

Andrew Hines was another racer who emerged in the early 2000s, competing in drag racing for the Screamin’ Eagle^®/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson team. In 2004, they clinched the first NHRA Powerade Pro Stock Motorcycle Championship. At 21, Andrew became the youngest champion in NHRA history. In 2005, the team broke the six-second barrier in its class, and in 2005, Andrew won his second championship. His teammate, G.T. Tonglet, finished just behind him in second place.

Further success was achieved on the flat track, as Kenny Coolbeth began making his mark. In 2007, Kenny won his second consecutive AMA Flat Track Twins Championship, and took a third consecutive Grand National Championship title in 2008. Meanwhile, on the drag strip, Eddie Krawiec scooped a fourth NHRA Pro Stock title for H-D in five years. In 2009, the AMA Flat Track team won yet another Grand National Championship, this time with Jared Mees at the top.

2010s
There were many success stories across a diverse range of disciplines in this decade. Starting off strong, in 2010, Seth Enslow broke the world record for a long-distance motorcycle jump. He covered an incredible 183.7 feet on a Harley-Davidson XR1200. Eddie Krawiec continued to top the podium, winning H-D’s fifth drag racing title for the 2011 season and his second consecutive NHRA Pro Stock Championship (H-D’s sixth overall) in 2012. In 2015, Andrew Hines continued to find success in drag racing, winning the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle season championship (and again in 2019), and Jared Mees won the AMA Pro Harley-Davidson GNC1 flat track title. 

In 2017, a new model came on the scene: the Harley-Davidson XG750R. Raced exclusively by the Harley-Davidson Factory Flat Track Racing Team across the 2017 season, replacing the XR750 (widely considered to be the best flat track racing motorcycle of all time).

2020s
This decade so far has seen triumphs and new records in bagger racing. Kyle Wyman rose to the top with plenty of wins throughout the 2020s. He also completed a record-setting lap on the Circuit of the Americas with a time of two minutes and 14.8 seconds. In 2025, Kyle came on top in the King of the Baggers championship for the Harley-Davidson Factory Race Team. Elsewhere on the racing scene, Cory West was crowned winner of the 2024 Mission Super Hooligan Championship with a Pan America^® 1250 ST, with James Rispoli following in his footsteps for 2025.

From the hill climbs and beach races of the early days to the dirt tracks and circuits of the 21^st century, Harley-Davidson has always been in the thick of the action.

---

Tags: