NASCAR
Riley Herbst Takes Second Career Xfinity Win After Dramatic Last Lap
SPEEDWAY, Ind. – The Xfinity Series delivered what may be the best finish in NASCAR history at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Three-wide across the yard of bricks at the white flag led to a turn four pass reminiscent of an IndyCar race. Refusing to lose, Riley Herbst muscled by Aric Almirola for his second NASCAR win. Stewart-Haas Racing is now 2-2 in the last two Xfinity races, with both drivers now Playoff bound.
Three different drivers led the final three laps in the series’ return to the famous speedway’s 2.5-mile oval. Ultimately, the 25-year-old Herbst had his No. 98 SHR Ford sideways in turn 4 to get past veteran Aric Almirola. He beat SHR teammate Cole Custer by .167-second to the checkers.
Custer led lap 98, Almirola led lap 99, and Herbst held the lead for the most important lap 100. Almirola may have taken the white flag out front, but he was a sitting duck. Herbst caught him and dove low to claim the lead coming out of Turn 4 on the next lap. Custer also raced past Almirola in the closing feet to give SHR a 1-2 finish.
“This is Indianapolis, this is the most famous race track in the world and it’s an honor just to walk into the place, let alone win,” said Herbst, whose only other series win was in at his hometown Las Vegas track last year. “We’ve had speed all year and I felt like we could win. I just messed up on restarts a little bit but just continued to work and continued to work.
“I’m proud of these guys. Proud of Stewart-Haas Racing. Obviously, with the news of us (the current Stewart-Haas Racing team) shutting down these guys could have given up on me and Cole. But they stuck behind me and Cole and it’s back-to-back wins for Stewart-Haas Racing.”
The teammates combined to lead 77 of the 100 laps with Custer’s 47 laps out front most in the field. Custer, Saturday’s polesitter, was smiling when he climbed out of his No. 00 SHR Ford. He was also the first man to congratulate Herbst.
“What an awesome day for SHR, two cars up front all day, qualified one-two and finished one-two, so an unbelievable day for SHR,” said Custer. He began his Saturday with a big announcement that he would be driving for the new single-car Haas Factory Team in the NASCAR Cup Series next year.
The defending series champion – who claimed his first win of 2024 last week at Pocono- continues to lead the points standings. With his second place showing, Custer now has a 56-point lead over JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier, who finished ninth Saturday.
The former fulltime NASCAR Cup Series driver Almirola, 40, making his first Xfinity start since May 11, finished third in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. The former Stewart-Haas Racing driver was also among the many to congratulate Herbst on the hard-fought victory.
“They (Herbst and Custer) were the class of the field but I knew if they got racing there was going to be an opportunity to steal it and I got the lead and thought and just got too tight in [turn] three and he got back inside me,” Almirola said, adding, “Those guys deserve it. I know all the guys on the team. They’re a great group of guys and proud and happy for those guys.”
Rookie Shane van Gisbergen, the former Australian SuperCars champion, finished a strong fourth-place, moving up after taking fresh tires on a late pit stop and having an inspired final restart with 10 laps left. A three-time road course winner this season, this fourth-place run marked SVG’s best oval result since third-place from Atlanta Motor Speedway in February.
“It’s tough and I’m obviously still learning and I’m probably still a bit too conservative but I feel like the car got better and I got better,” Van Gisbergen said. “This Xfinity Series is so fun, the way the cars move around and the way they’re all sliding. I had a blast.”
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Sheldon Creed finished fifth. Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill, who started from the rear of the field after some last minute adjustments on his Chevrolet, rallied to a sixth-place finish.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regular Daniel Dye was seventh, followed by two-time Indy winner A.J. Allmendinger, Allgaier and 21-year-old Carson Kvapil, who was making his sixth start of the year driving for JR Motorsports.
It was perhaps a fittingly dramatic ending to a race that got off to a tumultuous start with a 12-car accident on lap one. This melee took multiple cars out of contention early. JR Motorsports Sam Mayer, a two-time winner this year, spun after making a three-wide move in turn 3, collecting others and damaging more as they tried to avoid.
Fulltime NASCAR Cup Series driver Josh Berry, who was driving the No. 15 AM Racing Ford was among those collected in the melee and was officially scored last. He and Mayer were unable to complete one lap.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chandler Smith retired on Lap 37, his No. 81 Toyota never able to overcome the damage from the first lap incident.
RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg holds a slim three-point edge over JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith for the final points Playoff transfer position with six races remaining to set the 12-driver Playoff field. Sieg’s Stage 2 win at Indy went a long way in this tight points battle.
NASCAR will be taking a two-week sporting break during the Olympics, with the Xfinity Series returning to competition Aug. 17 at Michigan International Speedway for the Cabo Wabo 250 on USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to James Gilbert/Getty Images
