Cycle News

VOL. 50 ISSUE 40 OCTOBER 8, 2013 The other year that perhaps doesn't come to mind quite as quickly and is perhaps not as obvious, is 1991. That was the year Thomas Stevens - ironically racing for Vance & Hines Yamaha - won the AMA Superbike Championship in spite of the fact that most thought Scott Russell was the best rider in the series. Russell won four of the eight races that season aboard the Muzzy Kawasaki (Stevens won just one race at Mid-Ohio), but an out-of-sync pit stop at Daytona cost Russell a potential win there. Instead he finished fifth. Then a flat tire in Elkhart Lake a couple of months later ultimately sank Russell's championship hopes. Russell was way ahead and had Road America in the bag when his front tire went flat. In the short eightrace series, that mistake was too much to come back from and Stevens, who finished off the podium only twice all season and was fourth in both of those races, went home with the 91' crown. Stevens shares a bit with Herrin in that in spite of winning America's top road racing title his contract was not renewed. Stevens took his No. 1 plate with him to Muzzy Kawasaki in 1992 after Yamaha elected not to keep him. And so it is with Herrin. Herrin stated at New Jersey that he didn't think Yamaha would let him go if he won the Superbike Championship, but he was wrong. Yamaha is fortunate in that they have an embarrassment of riches. Daytona SportBike champ Cameron Beaubier is waiting in the wings and will deservedly get Yamaha's second Superbike seat in 2014. In spite of all the talk of wanting to move to a world championship series, make no mistake, Herrin would have stayed with Yamaha had they offered to keep him. We're talking major paycheck versus getting paid little to nothing in Moto2. Herrin is now at a major crossroads in his career and his ultimate legacy is in the balance. If Herrin is seeking inspiration in the historical record of AMA Superbike, he need look no further than 1986. The similarities between that year and 2013 are striking. It was a season of an intra-squad rivalry and possibly a lesser talent ultimately win- P99 ning the title. It featured a much more intense rivalry than the largely innocuous relationship between Hayes and Herrin. That year Honda's management considered Wayne Rainey its golden boy, in spite of the fact that Fred Merkel was a returning two-time champion. Like Hayes, Rainey was the dominant rider that season, although the talent margin between him and Merkel was not as evident as the one between Hayes and Herrin. And in '86 there were only nine races in the series leaving little margin of error. Rainey went on a five-race winning streak and was well on his way to earning the '86 AMA Superbike title, when he inexplicably crashed at Mid-Ohio. Merkel won the race and that gave him the margin he needed. Flyin' Fred went to the season finale at Road Atlanta that year and did what he needed to do, following Rainey around and gathering more than enough points to win the championship. Merkel's reward for winning the '86 title? Just like Herrin - a pink slip. And here's where Herrin can look at Merkel's story and find a silver lining in his own circumstances. Merkel turned it around big time after being the unsigned champion and a few years later he was a two-time World Superbike Champion. The bottom line is the AMA Pro Racing record books will always show Ben Bostrom as the 1998 AMA Superbike Champion and Thomas Stevens the '91 champ and Herrin the top man in 2013. That's what ultimately will stand in history. In 15 or 20 years when retired racer Herrin gets introduced at events he will be introduced as former AMA Superbike Champion Josh Herrin. No matter how unworthy some might think he is. That title is something no one will ever be able to take away from him. Adding a world championship or two to his resume would be icing on the cake. Good luck Josh. I bet Merkel is rooting for you. CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives

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