An Update On The On-Going MotoAmerica Social Media Cup
COSTA MESA, CA – Josh Herrin is having a good year on the racetrack with five Motul Superbike podiums thus far. Off the track, he’s doing even better as he holds down the lead in the 2018 MotoAmerica Social Media Cup, a competition to see who rules the roost in the MotoAmerica paddock when it comes to social media. Through the first three rounds of the competition (COTA, VIR and Road America), the ruler of that roost is Herrin.
But not by as much as you might think, considering his large social media following. Herrin leads the way with a perfect 150 points (50 points from each of the first three races tallied so far) and that puts him seven points ahead of Liqui Moly Junior Cup racer Jamie Astudillo, who in turn is just two points clear of Yoshimura Suzuki’s Roger Hayden.
“I think it’s sick,” Herrin said. “The whole idea with the Social Media Cup is to get other riders involved in it, especially when they announced that there would be prizes at the end of the year. For me it’s been something I’ve been working on for the past six, seven years whenever it started getting big. I realized that it was going to be the way our sport was driven in the future and kind of jumped ahead of the curve a little bit. I think some of the other riders need to use it more and look at my stuff and realize how important it is with helping the series. I’m super pumped to be doing it and happy I’m leading.”
Astudillo was surprised to be sitting in second place.
“I think it’s a cool idea with this Social Media Cup,” Astudillo said. “It gets a lot of exposure out there for MotoAmerica and I think it was really a good idea, a thought-out plan to have us compete and get MotoAmerica and the riders more exposure.”
Two racers are tied for fourth: Supersport Championship leader JD Beach and defending MotoAmerica Motul Superbike Champion Toni Elias. The two have 134 points each.
“I think it’s cool that I’m tied for fourth in the Social Media Cup,” Beach said. “It’s cool that MotoAmerica put together a program to help the riders do their part to build the sport. Just like racing, I don’t want to finish fourth so I’m going to work hard and try and win.”
M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis, Team MP13’s Melissa Paris, KWR’s Kyle Wyman, Rickdiculous Racing’s Hayden Gillim and Weir Everywhere Racing’s Travis Wyman round out the top 10 in the new-for-2018 competition.
“It was interesting to see the numbers when they first came back,” MotoAmerica President Wayne Rainey said. “While Josh (Herrin) isn’t a surprise at the top, I was surprised by some of the others who are close to him. Everyone in the paddock is working hard on their social media.
While it’s not as easy for some as it is for others, it definitely works as far as promoting our racers, our teams and our series.”
The 2018 MotoAmerica Series will hold its seventh round at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California, August 10-12, with the Cycle Gear Championship of Sonoma.
About MotoAmerica
MotoAmerica is the North American road racing series created in 2014 that is home to the AMA Superbike Championship. MotoAmerica is an affiliate of KRAVE Group LLC, a partnership that includes three-time 500cc World Champion, two-time AMA Superbike Champion, and AMA Hall of Famer Wayne Rainey, ex-racer and former manager of Team Roberts Chuck Aksland, motorsports marketing executive Terry Karges, and businessman Richard Varner. For more information on MotoAmerica, visit www.MotoAmerica.com. Also make sure to follow MotoAmerica on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.