Eleven years ago, a young Josh Herrin came out on top of a season-long scrap with his then-Yamaha factory teammate Josh Hayes to earn the 2013 AMA Superbike Championship. If Herrin can withstand the heat that is certain to come in the final three rounds (and seven races) of the 2024 season and is crowned as the MotoAmerica Steel Commander Superbike Champion, it will mark an 11-year gap between Superbike titles for the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati star.
But first things first.
Herrin heads to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this week with a 15-point lead over three-time and defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Jake Gagne in the 2024 title chase, but Gagne isn’t the only rider within striking distance as five riders are within 46 points of the 34-year-old “veteran.”
So, is it too early to think about the championship?
“I am always thinking about the championship,” Herrin said prior to heading to Ohio for the seventh round of the series. “That’s how you win championships. You have to make smart decisions all year to have a chance.”
So far, so good as Herrin has put himself in this position by not only being consistent, but by being consistently fast. Herrin has won three races (Road America, Ridge Motorsports Park and Laguna Seca) so far while mixing in four additional podiums.
There have been miscues, three of them. There was at crash in race two at Barber Motorsports Park, a ninth in horrible conditions at Road America, and an 11th after choosing slicks in the rain of race one at Ridge Motorsports Park.
The most recent race weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca was Herrin’s best of the year so far with a second to five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier in race one and a hard-fought victory over Beaubier in race two.
So, is this the best version of Josh Herrin?
“One hundred percent, it is,” Herrin said. “I have the best team, the best bike and the best people around me right now. That is the difference. They have elevated me to new levels that I didn’t think were possible.”
Thirty-four-year-old Herrin has had some ups and downs in his career, and his critics have been numerous. Early in his Superbike career, Herrin was often faulted for not being able to lead and only wanting to follow. That’s no longer the truth, and it was proven so again in his most recent win at Laguna where he had Beaubier hounding him for the entire distance, yet he never put a wheel wrong. The other thing that critics pointed to was that he was out of shape and didn’t like to train. Although he freely admits he is not a big fan of training, he still does the work needed. At least enough to not tire at the end of races where mistakes are made. Again, case in point, Laguna Seca race two.
“I think everyone gets better at everything with age,” Herrin said. “They just let the wrong people into their lives that tell them otherwise. Josh Hayes was 35 when he won his first Superbike Championship, and he went on to win three more in the next four years. I am only 34. I’ve got a lot of fight left in me.”
Herrin was in Europe racing in the Moto2 World Championship the last time AMA Superbikes raced at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, a year after he won one of the two races in 2013. It’s a track he likes, and he’s looking forward to MotoAmerica’s return after a 10-year hiatus.
“Mid-Ohio has always been a great track for me, so I am excited to be able to race there again,” Herrin said. “Hopefully, it still has awesome fans like it used to.”
