Riley Herbst wins NASCAR Xfinity thriller in Indianapolis

“This is Indianapolis. This is the most famous racetrack in the world and it’s an honor to run here, let alone win. We had speed all year and I felt like we could win, but I just kind of blew it on the restarts,” Herbst said. “It was a good fight. I thought I had Cole outpaced and then he slipped into the bottom three with the 20 and I thought it was going to be tough. I just kept working.

“This is hallowed ground. This is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Everybody in the world wants to race here, and I’ve won here. I don’t care if it’s the Xfinity Series, the Cup Series or the go-kart track back there. This is the Brickyard. This is the coolest racetrack in the world. I love you guys. This is really cool.”

Combined, the Stewart-Haas Racing pair led 77 of the 100 laps en route to a 1-2 finish for the cars that will become Factory Haas next season. Custer announced he would return to the Cup Series with that organization next season, while it has also offered Herbst an extended ride in the Xfinity Series, one he may pass up in favor of a Cup shot himself.

Despite his teammate’s door slamming shut when the white flag dropped, Custer was one of the first to congratulate his teammate.

“I mean, you could see us on the straightaway,” Custer said. “You’re going to do everything you can to win Indy. I did everything I could to get this thing running. I needed one less lap. I felt like it was a little bit of a disadvantage to lead all day. If you were running second, your car would loosen up, which would save your tires on a run. Whereas if you were leading, after 15 laps you’d be so tight. What a great day for SHR. Two cars up front all day. We qualified 1-2 and finished 1-2, unbelievable day for SHR. I hope we can keep doing that.”

Custer led the race for 44 laps.

Almirola, Shane van Gisbergen and Sheldon Creed completed the top five.

“I thought this was our only chance if we were going to steal one,” Almriola said. “The Stewart-Haas (Racing) cars were the best in the field all weekend. I thought this was my chance to try and do it, when they (Riley Herbst and Cole Custer) got side by side and made something happen. I thought it was going to work. I thought I was going to get some clean air and be OK, but Riley’s car was so good, and he got on my left rear and hit me. That happened earlier in the run. I got so tangled up when he got on my left rear. Kudos to those guys, they did a great job. Proud of everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing. Tyler (Allen, crew chief) and all the guys on this 20-team. They just did a great job. Proud of the effort and damn, it hurts.”

The race, where power was reduced but downforce was low, resulted in a number of incidents during the race.

The first happened on the first lap, when Sam Mayer and AJ Allmendinger collided, resulting in a 12-car crash that killed Mayer and Josh Berry and damaged several other cars.