Press Release | September 12, 2024
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin arrives this weekend, September 13-15, at the Circuit of The Americas with a 52-point lead in the 2024 MotoAmerica Steel Commander Superbike Championship.
This is a race preview/press release from MotoAmerica…
Irvine, CA (September 11, 2024) – Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin arrives this weekend at the Circuit of The Americas with a 52-point lead in the 2024 MotoAmerica Steel Commander Superbike Championship. If he leaves Texas on Sunday afternoon with a similar point lead, he will be crowned as the Superbike Champion for the second time in his career and for the first time in 11 years.
Josh Herrin brings a 52-point lead in the 2024 MotoAmerica Steel Commander Superbike Series this weekend as the series will holds its penultimate round at Circuit of The Americas. Photo by Brian J. Nelson
But with that being said, there is plenty of racing still to be raced at COTA with 75 points up for grabs from the time the lights go green for race one on Saturday until the checkered flag comes out at the end of race three on Sunday afternoon.
And there are still all kinds of hungry racers behind him that will be determined to at least make Herrin wait until the unpredictable, anything-can-happen New Jersey Motorsports Park round and the season finale.
Let’s back up a little bit.
Herrin has gotten where he is by pouring it on when it matters most. The championship isn’t won in the early rounds at Road Atlanta, Barber or even Road America. Those are three ingredients, but the bread is baked in the last half of the season and that’s where Herrin has put a dagger in the hearts of his competition.
In the past nine races, Herrin has won five times and stood on the podium three other times. His only real miscue came in race one at Ridge Motorsports Park when he chose to use slicks on a wet racetrack. He wasn’t alone in making that poor decision and he paid for it, scoring just five points in the race.
Since then, Herrin has been virtually unstoppable with four wins in the past five races, including three in a row heading into COTA – a racetrack he’s won on before and a racetrack that suits the Ducati.
Two men are tied for second in the championship heading to Texas and one of them won’t be racing. Wrench Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong and Attack Performance/Progressive/ Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne are tied – 52 points behind Herrin – but Gagne won’t be racing at COTA as he’s opted to sit out the rest of the season in an attempt to get his arm-pump problem sorted out for the 2025 season. Gagne has finished every single race in 2024 and he’s the only rider in the top 10 who can make that claim. But his health issues haven’t gotten any better so sitting out for a re-charged 2025 is probably the best option.
Fong had a strong middle part of the season, including two wins at Brainerd International Raceway, but his results have slipped of late, and he hasn’t stood on the podium since race two at Ridge Motorsports Park. Fong’s a fighter, however, and he won’t quit until the championship is over. He’s also a rider who has done well ln the past at COTA.
The man Herrin probably fears the most is the one who has climbed his way up to fourth after missing events and failing to score in five straight races while recuperating from a broken heel. That rider is Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier.
The five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion is 60 points behind Herrin and that may be too much to ask. Beaubier has four podium finishes (including a victory) in the past four races, proving that his foot injury is behind him. Expect him to fight until the end and he will be able to let the fast BMW M 1000 RR feel its oats at COTA.
Cameron Petersen sits fifth in the title chase, nine points behind Beaubier and 69 in arrears of Herrin. Petersen has had an up-and-down season thus far and a few crashes at the most recent Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course round left him a bit beaten. A few weeks off likely did wonders for the Attack Racing/Progressive/Yamaha Racing-backed South African. Also, Petersen does have three victories in the 2024 season so he knows how to win.
Petersen will be joined at COTA by Xavi Forés with the Spaniard set to replace Gagne for both the Texas round and the season-ending New Jersey round. Forés is “Mr. Have Leathers Will Travel” in 2024 as he previously filled in on the Vision Wheel M4 Ecstar Suzuki team for Richie Escalante. This is Forés’ second go with the Attack team as he raced for them in the Daytona 200 in March.
It would be hard to argue against Sean Dylan Kelly being the “fastest rider yet to win a MotoAmerica Superbike race” as the rookie has taken the series by storm with four podium finishes in his debut season. Kelly’s confidence continues to grow, helped by his close second-place finish to Herrin in the most recent race at Mid-Ohio. It will be interesting to see if the EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing rider can come through with a victory in any of the remaining five races.
Loris Baz sits seventh in the championship after throwing away what appeared to be a certain 20 points in race one at Mid-Ohio when he crashed while circulating behind his teammate Herrin. Baz is 12 points behind Kelly and 31 points ahead of Beaubier’s teammate JD Beach.
Vision Wheel M4 Ecstar Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch and Real Steel Motorsports’ Hayden Gillim complete the top 10 heading into COTA’s three races.
Paasch’s teammate Escalante was back in action at Mid-Ohio. Unfortunately, he crashed out of race one and finished seventh in race two as he fights to get back to his normal self.
Pre-Circuit of The America Notes…
What a difference a year makes. Jake Gagne and Josh Herrin split wins this time last year at Circuit of The Americas with Gagne topping Richie Escalante and JD Beach to win race one while Herrin beat PJ Jacobsen and Bobby Fong to win race two. Gagne arrived in Texas after wrapping up his third successive championship in the previous round at Pittsburgh International Race Complex. Gagne has opted to sit out the remaining five races of the season as he tries to fix his season-long arm-pump problem.
Gagne earned pole position for the two races at COTA with a best lap of 2:08.169 to best Herrin and Escalante, with the Vision Wheel M4 Ecstar Suzuki rider earning his first front-row starting position. Gagne’s best lap set a new Superbike record at the 3.4-mile, 20-turn Circuit of The Americas, breaking Roger Hayden’s 2:08.184 from 2017.
Of the 14 MotoAmerica Superbike races held at COTA, non-Americans have won nine of them. The all-time win leader at COTA is Toni Elias, the now-retired Spaniard winning six races in Texas. The riders with the second most victories at COTA are Danilo Petrucci, with the Italian winning both races in 2022, and Josh Herrin, who won a race in 2019 and won race two last year. The third foreigner to win at COTA is Mathew Scholtz with the South African winning race one in 2018 for Westby Racing.
Suzuki is the manufacturer with the most MotoAmerica Superbike wins at COTA with seven. Yamaha has four victories in Austin with Josh Herrin giving Ducati its third win in Texas last year.
Cameron Beaubier arrives in Texas as the winningest active Superbike racer with the five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion second on the all-time win list behind Australian Mat Mladin with 63 Superbike victories. Mladin retired with 82 Superbike wins. Beaubier has four wins in 2024 and comes to COTA in dire need of three victories to keep his championship hopes alive.
The second highest active racer on the all-time Superbike win list is Jake Gagne with his 41 victories.
With five victories thus far in 2024, Josh Herrin has moved into a tie with Eric Bostrom and Freddie Spencer for 11th on the all-time AMA Superbike win list with 15 victories.
Heated Championship Fights Head To Circuit Of The Americas For Texas Showdown, September 13-15
Wyman Vs. Herfoss, Scholtz Vs. Jacobsen: Let The Battles Resume
Although it may not have been penned in permanent marker, the writing was definitely on the wall way back in March and April that the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship had taken another step up with the arrival of Australian Troy Herfoss. The possibility of Herfoss challenging for the title looked to be a possibility after he and his S&S/Indian Motorcycle Challenger finished second in both races at Daytona. It became etched in stone when he won his first Baggers race at Circuit of The Americas in April when the series brought the roar of the massive V-twins to Texas and a rendezvous with MotoGP.
Kyle Wyman (33) and Troy Herfoss (17) are bringing their Mission King Of The Baggers Championship battle to Circuit of The Americas, September 13-15. Photo by Brian J. Nelson
Suddenly it was Herfoss, Herfoss, Herfoss as the Aussie was the talk of the town when he went on a three-race win streak through Road Atlanta and into Road America. But it was a case of hold your horses, Sonny Jim, as Harley-Davidson Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman had a thing or two to say about all of this.
And here we are. Back at Circuit of The Americas where Wyman and Herfoss return to the site of Herfoss’ first win, and they arrive separated by just 14 points in what has become a two-man battle for the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship.
Wyman (six wins, 11 total podiums) leads Herfoss (five wins, 10 total podiums) by 14 points with four races left (the two at COTA this weekend and two more in the season finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park), which basically means both riders will have to win to win. Both control their own destiny, and neither can sit around in second place.
There are several racers in the class capable of throwing a monkey wrench into things. Namely, RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson’s Hayden Gillim, the defending class champion and the only rider other than Wyman and Herfoss to win a race in 2024. The hard-riding Gillim has won three races with two additional podium finishes and would love nothing more than to end his season on a high note.
Ditto for Herfoss’ teammate Tyler O’Hara, who is just seven points behind Gillim in the battle for third in the title chase. Wyman’s teammate James Rispoli and Gillim’s rookie teammate Rocco Landers are on the outside looking in but are both capable of mixing it up with the best of them.
Supersport – Scholtz vs. Jacobsen
With a 25-point lead, Strack Racing’s Mathew Scholtz could theoretically finish second to Rahal Ducati Moto’s PJ Jacobsen in the four remaining races, and the pair would end up tied on points at the top of the MotoAmerica Supersport Championship final standings. Well, that wouldn’t work out too well for the South African. Scholz and Jacobsen would be tied on points… but four straight wins to close out the season would give Jacobsen 10 on the season while Scholtz would still be on seven wins. Tie breaker to Jacobsen.
However, the chances of one of the two racers winning four in a row to end the season isn’t likely. Not with the way they have battled each other from start to finish in almost every single round. Expect more of that and it all gets started this coming weekend at Circuit of The Americas.
While the race for the championship is being fought out between those two, the other riders giving chase have shown speed. It just hasn’t been with the same consistency as the top two.
Case in point: Altus Motorsports’ Jake Lewis is having a nice little season, scoring points in every round with three podiums, to sit third in the title chase with two rounds and four races to go. But… Lewis is 152 points behind Scholtz.
Just 12 points behind Lewis is young Blake Davis and his N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto Yamaha. Davis has shown flashes of speed and has four podiums to show for it.
The only rider other than Scholtz and Jacobsen to win a race is Vision Wheel M4 Ecstar Suzuki’s Tyler Scott, but some big crashes have cost Scott any chance at the title many thought he would challenge for.
Rahal Ducati Moto’s Kayla Yaakov has two podium finishes and sits sixth in the title chase in her first full season of Supersport racing.
Mission Super Hooligan National Championship – Oh So Close!
The closest championship as the series heads to Circuit of The Americas is the one being fought out between Saddlemen/Harley-Davidson’s Cory West and S&S/Indian Motorcycles’ Tyler O’Hara, the defending class champion.
West and his three wins and six total podiums sit atop the point standings, four better than O’Hara and his one win and six podiums. Four points.
West’s teammate Jake Lewis is third, 34 points behind his teammate and eight points ahead of KWR/Harley-Davidson’s Cody Wyman, who has a win and an additional podium on his scorecard. Then comes O’Hara’s teammate Troy Herfoss, the Australian arriving in Texas with one win in the class and a more important Mission King Of The Baggers title fight to worry about.
BellissiMoto Twins Cup – Landers Out Front
RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki’s Rocco Landers will be out to win the fourth championship of his career when he takes his 19-point lead to the start line for the two BellissiMoto Twins Cup races at COTA this weekend. The 19-year-old has four victories on the season, including three in a row heading into Texas, to lead Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering’s Alessandro Di Mario with just the two COTA races remaining.
Di Mario has been able to keep Landers in sight with his lone victory and seven total podiums, including four second-place finishes in a row. Di Mario is 31 points ahead of his teammate Gus Rodio, who looked unbeatable in the first two races of the year at Daytona.
Giaccmoto Yamaha Racing’s Dominic Doyle has two race wins on his resume from this season and sits fourth, four points behind Rodio.
Vision Wheel M4 Ecstar Suzuki’s Rossi Moor rounds out the top five heading to COTA, 15 points behind Doyle and 23 ahead of EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing Avery Dreher, the fourth rider to have won a Twins Cup race in 2024.
Pre-Race Circuit Of The Americas Notes…
Xavi Forés and Tyler Scott split wins in the two Supersport races at COTA in 2023 with Forés beating Scott and Teagg Hobbs in race one before Scott turned the tables, besting Forés and Torin Collins in race two.
Harley-Davidson Factory Racing teammates Kyle Wyman and James Rispoli won the two Mission King Of The Baggers races last year at COTA. Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson’s Hayden Gillim finished second in both races to take over at the top of the series point standings – by just two points over Rispoli and 11 over Wyman.
S&S/Indian Motorcycle’s Tyler O’Hara won both of the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship races. Stefano Mesa finished second in race one with Andy DiBrino third. In race two it was O’Hara over his teammate Jeremy McWiliams with DiBrino third again.
For more information on MotoAmerica, visit www.MotoAmerica.com
