Jason Herrington Rides Title Wave Of Support; Named KOD 358-Mod Most Popular Driver

Story By: ROB HAYES / KING OF DIRT – FONDA, NY – Some would argue the dirt-racing season is a 365-day a year sport. So it’s no surprise that the King Of Dirt Racing season continues well past the final schedule race with the annual Fall Madness Most Popular Driver Tournaments that pit fan bases head-to-head in a showdown to determine which kingdom has the numbers. Jason Herrington came, he saw, and he conquered to earn the 2018 Small Block Modified Most Popular Driver Award.

More often than not these days fan support comes from all over. Whether it’s a die-hard crew member at the track, youngster in the stands who likes a lettering job, or family members who live out of state; fan support for a driver can come from many walks of life.

There may not be an overwhelming contingent of big red number one t-shirts at Lebanon Valley each week, but the charismatic smile Jason Herrington carries through life certainly earns him some good old fashioned support and it showed during the 2018 Fall Madness Most Popular Driver tournament for Small Block Modifieds.

It was no easy task to win this one-on-one tournament, as he first had to out fan a legendary racing name in the form of Don Ronca in the Wild Card Round. He’d advance with a 79% to 21% victory and face off with a very familiar name in Capital District Racing, Marc Johnson.

The ‘White Knight’ and a ‘flying farmer’ sounds like a great movie title for a Robin Hood style flick, but in the divisional round of the Fall Madness 358 Modified Most Popular Driver Tournament it meant 2017 King Of Dirt Small Block Modified Champion and Albany Saratoga heavyweight Marc Johnson was facing off with the valley of speeds perennial title contender. In the end Herrington’s legion of fans propelled him to the 57% to 43% win.

Herrington’s next challenge would be to face off with the defending King Of Dirt Racing Most Popular 358 Modified Driver Allison Ricci. That’s no easy task, as Ricci has amassed a huge following in her young career and she brought every single one of them to the fight. The match up went back and forth reaching nearly 2,000 votes where in the end Herrington would edge out Ricci 52% to 48% to advance into the finals.

Who would Herrington meet in the finals; None other than 2017 King Of Dirt Racing Most Popular Sportsman Modified driver Rocky Warner. The flyin’ squirrel had an interesting path to the finals himself carrying his fan base to wins over Matt Pupello, Bobby Varin, and Kenny Tremont. The stage was set for an epic duel between drivers relying on their fan bases to earn them the honor.

For 24 hours it went back and forth with both Herrington and Warner holding the lead in votes. It came down to the final hours where Herrington was thrust forward to victory in the Finals 50.2% to Warner’s 49.8%. There were 3,500 votes cast and it was decided by a mere 16 votes.

“We do these popular driver tournaments for a few reasons, but most importantly we like being different. We embrace uniqueness with KOD and in doing so we engage the fans in helping us determine their favorite driver on tour for that year. Jason had a couple situations arise that kept him away from 2 races this year, but he’s supported the tour since it began. It was great publicity for both drivers (Herrington and Warner) and that’s why we do what we do,” said KOD Promoter Rob Hazer.

“Oh my god we won. We did it as a team. To each and everyone who voted for me and supports me, this one is for us,” said Herrington on his personal Social Media page.

Rocky Warner has nothing to hang his head about, after all Squirrel Nation out did Tremont Fandom and that alone is a victory to be proud of. He’s one of the most popular drivers in the Capital District and said, “Thank you to all the Squirrel O’ Maniacs that voted over the course of the competition. We went down swinging and fell a few votes short, but I’m proud to have everyone that I do in my corner.”

Next up is the Sportsman Modified Tournament set to begin Monday October 22nd. There is an event page on the KOD Facebook Page where voting takes place exclusively. The tournament bracket for Sportsman has also been posted there for anyone looking ahead.