New Hope Seventh Grader Wins NASCAR Youth Race At Talledega

NEW HOPE BOROUGH, PA — Jackson, Herr, a seventh grader at New Hope-Solebury, captured his first national victory in the NASCAR Youth Series on April 23 at the renowned Talladega Motor Speedway, competing in the Light 160 category.

The win follows his recognition as the Northeast Regional Champion in the Light World Formula category last year following a series of wins in the Northeast Titan Regional Series, which spans six races across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut.

Jackson first discovered his interest in racing at three years old during visits to see his uncle,

who lives near a racetrack and often had NASCAR races on his television.

While he is the first in his family to race, Jackson’s dad Jason is a mechanic and has an appreciation for cars and their capabilities.

At the age of nine, Jackson discovered that he was old enough to start racing himself. He started racing in just one class, Senior Honda, at the local quarter midget track Oaklane QMRC in Quakertown.

Jackson is now a sponsored racer thanks to LandCare and Juniata Concrete and now races in four different classes, all in Storm Chassis, including Senior Honda, Senior Animal, Lt 160 and Lt World Formula, which reaches speeds up to 45mph.

When asked what he loves most about racing, Jackson said, “Everything.”

He dedicates his weekends to practicing, except in the weeks leading up to a race, as a means of protecting his vehicle from wrecking too close to a competition. On those off weekends, you can find Jackson at the racetrack with friends watching other racers to evaluate their progress and their cars.

Contributed by The Herr Family

His race at Talledega in the Lt 160 category was a demonstration of his developed skill as a
driver. He started in 7th place in the A Main Race based on his finishes in earlier heats. He
managed to maneuver his way to 2nd place, but kept getting derailed from making the move to
first place by a series of caution flags.

When those flags finally came down, his main competitor wrecked, which sent Jackson into fourth place and his competitor to the back of the race.

“If you make an aggressive move that causes a wreck, you get sent to the back,” Jackson explained. From his fourth place position, Jackson then made a series of passes to secure the win.

“It felt pretty cool to win. A lot of people were surprised.”

From here, he will continue in the NASCAR Youth Series and compete again in Kansas City, Indianapolis, Charlotte, Darlington, and Watkins Glen.

When asked about his future and what he hopes to achieve, Jackson shared that he hopes to
get into professional NASCAR, either behind the wheel or working on the cars. The New Hope-Solebury community hopes to see him on those professional tracks someday.