FINAL ROUND/SEPTEMBER 29, 2013
MAZDA RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA/MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA
AMA SUPERBIKES
P76
AMA NATIONAL GUARD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
Josh Herrin sprays
the bubbly in
celebration of
winning the 2013
AMA Superbike
Championship.
Josh Hayes
wins the
battle, but the
war goes to
his teammate
Josh Herrin.
HERRIN
CROWNED!
S
BY PAUL CARRUTHERS
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN J. NELSON
even years ago a skinny, freshfaced kid by the name of Josh Herrin showed up at Road America.
Having just turned 16, he arrived as the
next American road-racing prodigy. And
he turned heads straight away, finishing
sixth on his Graves Yamaha R6 (a certain Ben Spies was fifth). At the following
round at Miller Motorsports Park, Herrin earned his first-career podium with a
third-place finish behind Jamie Hacking
and Roger Lee Hayden. Stardom was inevitable.
But something happened along the
way. While always a factor, Herrin could
never button down a title. He came within
five points of taking the championship in
2009, and in 2011 he lost the title despite
having the most wins. Both times the
championship had gone to his bitter rival
Danny Eslick.
When team owner Chuck Graves promoted him to his AMA factory Yamaha
Superbike team in 2012, most of the paddock shook their heads in unison. If the
kid can't win a Daytona SportBike title,
The race was
completely
dominated by
defending threetime champion
Josh Hayes (1)
while Herrin (2)
rode to a safe and
secure second
place.
