Riley Herbst wins NASCAR Xfinity thriller in Indianapolis




Riley Herbst defeated Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Cole Custer and returning Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Aric Almirola in a thrilling three-way battle during the closing rounds of the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval.

Custer held a lead of over a second and a half with 10 laps to go, but Herbst began methodically closing the gap. He was there with five laps to go. Herbst got on the inside of Custer but couldn’t complete the pass and their combined stalled momentum led to Almirola taking them both three-wide and taking the white flag.

Herbst regrouped and retook the lead in the final corners to claim his second career Xfinity Series victory and his first since breaking through at his home track of Las Vegas last October.

“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.

The other major incident occurred on lap 84, when Anthony Alfredo suffered a flat tire from contact with Daniel Dye, immediately veering into traffic and hitting Parker Retzlaff and Josh Williams in Turn 1.

Cuter holds a 56-point lead in the regular season over Justin Allgaier, with Austin Hill, Chandler Smith and Herbst making up the top five. Ryan Sieg holds a three-point lead over Sammy Smith for the final provisional playoff spot with six races remaining to determine the 12-driver Playoff field.

Results

  1. Riley Herbst, No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
  2. Cole Custer, No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
  3. Aric Almirola, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
  4. Shane van Gisbergen, Kaulig Racing Chevrolet No. 97
  5. Sheldon Creed, No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
  6. Austin Hill, No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
  7. Daniel Dye, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
  8. AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
  9. Justin Allgaier, No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
  10. Carson Kvapil, No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
  11. Ryan Sieg, No. 39 RSS Racing Ford
  12. Parker Kligerman, No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet
  13. Jesse Love, No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
  14. Conor Daly, No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota
  15. Brandon Jones, No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
  16. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 38 RSS Racing Ford
  17. Joe Graf Jr., No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
  18. Sammy Smith, No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
  19. Jeb Burton, No. 27 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet
  20. Leland Honeyman Jr., No. 42 Young’s Motorsports Chevrolet
  21. Brennan Poole, No. 44 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet
  22. Kyle Sieg, No. 28 RSS Racing Ford
  23. Ryan Ellis, No. 43 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet
  24. Joey Gase, No. 35 Joey Gase Motorsports Toyota
  25. Kyle Weatherman, No. 91 DGM Racing Chevrolet
  26. David Starr, No. 14 SS Green Light Racing Ford
  27. Josh Bilicki, No. 92 DGM Racing Chevrolet
  28. BJ McLeod, #13 Motorsports Business Management Chevrolet
  29. Blaine Perkins, No. 29 RSS Racing Ford
  30. Jeremy Clements, No. 51 Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet
  31. Garrett Smithley, No. 45 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet
  32. Greg Van Alst, SS Green Light Racing Ford #07
  33. Chandler Smith, No. 81 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
  34. Anthony Alfredo, #5 Our Motorsport Chevrolet
  35. Parker Retzlaff, No. 31 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet
  36. Josh Williams, No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
  37. Sam Mayer, No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
  38. Josh Berry, No. 15 AM Racing Ford

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