SPEEDWAY, Ind. – As the white flag waved over the NASCAR Xfinity Series field, the leaders were battling three–wide battling for the win in the Pennzoil 250.
Defending series champion Cole Custer was alongside teammate Riley Herbst as part-time driver Aric Almirola built a run to get by both heading into Turn 1.
Herbst was able to clear Custer and set his sights on Almirola on the backstretch. The two cars weaved back and forth as Almirola tried to break the draft while Herbst was trying to put Almirola out of position.
Heading into Turn 3, Herbst prevailed with his strategy as Almirola was half a car width higher than preferred. Herbst was able to get underneath exiting the corner down the short chute. He cleared Almirola going into Turn 4 and charged to the checkered flag to win his second career Xfinity Series race.
“This is Indianapolis,” exclaimed Herbst after the biggest win of his career. “This is the most famous racetrack in the world, and it’s an honor just to walk in this place, let alone win. We’ve had speed all year, and I felt like we could win but I just messed up on the restarts a little bit. It was a good fight. I thought I had Cole (Custer, teammate) clear and then he slid the bottom of three with the 20, and I thought it was going to be tough. I just continued to work.
“This is back-to-back wins for Stewart-Haas Racing. Thank you so much Monster Energy. Thank you to everybody in Las Vegas, my family.”
The win also comes after news earlier this season that Stewart-Haas was selling three of their four charters from the NASCAR Cup Series. It’s left many unknowns for their Xfinity Series program, but both Herbst and Custer kept grinding to defend their team’s championship. Before Saturday’s race, Custer officially announced his return to the Cup Series to drive the team’s lone charter in the No. 41 Ford Mustang.
Despite various rumors of where Herbst will land, nothing has been officially announced yet.
“It has been a pretty tough week on me mentally to be honest with you,” admitted Herbst. “I’m proud of these guys and everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing. Obviously, the news of us shutting down, these guys could have given up on me, gone to different teams, but they stuck behind me.”
But they didn’t. And they were rewarded with the tradition of kissing the bricks in NASCAR’s return to the iconic oval.
Now, heading into the three-week Olympic break, Herbst gets some extra time in celebration.
“I’m going to go drink beer and turn my phone off for three weeks.”